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Aldrin Sampear apologised for the road rage incident, but it did not extend to the motorist it was directed at.
Aldrin Sampear. Image: X
It’s taken a month and two days but TV anchor Aldrin Sampear on Monday finally apologised to Newzroom Afrika, his colleagues and “babies”. This, for allegedly assaulting and verbally abusing a 20-year-old woman during a road rage incident in Randburg on 17 April.
The video showed him screaming, pushing and yelling at the young woman after allegedly ramming her off the road with his luxury SUV. In the recording, she also yelled at him to “stop hitting me”. The video went viral with more than 2 million views, nearly equivalent to half the number of total X users in South Africa.
No apology for Aldrin Sampear’s victim
However, Sampear did not offer a public, nor personal, apology to purported victim Laricia Augusto.
“It was really disappointed that he did not even recognise his role in the incident beyond acknowledging that it happened,” said Augusto. “But the fact remains that it happened, and I was there. Being famous, having influential friends or a public profile does not absolve him from what he did nor change the narrative.”
WATCH: Aldrin Sampear’s road rage incident
Still no admission of physical altercation
In his apology, Sampear still did not admit to any physical altercation.
“I was involved in a traffic incident which resulted in a confrontation between myself as well as another driver,” he said. “Having had the time to reflect on these events, I want to take full responsibility for my actions.”
Augusto said that he did assault her and indicated that a clear shove towards her is visible on the clip.
ALSO READ: TV news anchor Aldrin Sampear apologises for road rage incident
Augusto’s stepfather Ivan Basson is angry.
“What kind of message does Newzroom Afrika and Sampear send out to the world? That it’s okay to act inappropriately and aggressively toward a young woman and then to apologise to everyone, except to her?”
Sampear was suspended after the incident, until the apology on Monday.
No word from law enforcement
Despite having laid charges of assault against the broadcaster, Augusto said that she has also not heard from law enforcement since.
“I am actually quite nervous when I drive around now,” she said. “What happens the next time someone bumps into me, even if it is by accident?”
Basson said that it’s gender-based violence, no matter which way you look at it. “Are the authorities really serious when they say they want to protect women and children against the scourge of gender-based violence?”
He said that an apology should be heartfelt, and it requires a measure of honesty. “We live in a society that is on a knife-edge, and we all want to live in peace with one another. But if someone cannot even apologise to their alleged victim, where do we even start with reconciliation?”
Augusto said she was shocked to learn after the incident that Sampear had previously admitted to having acted violently towards women. “I did not even know who he was when the incident occurred. I only learnt later that he was an influential broadcaster and about his past,” she said.
Since the incident, social media commentators have had a field day with the events that unfolded in the video. The debate got fresh legs again when Sampear apologised on Monday.
NOW READ: TV news anchor Aldrin Sampear claims road rage video was edited, denies assault
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