'Why do you do this to black people? That’s nonsense.'
A Steers restaurant in Pretoria has received massive backlash after instructing its staff remove weeds outside the store.
In a video that went viral on social media this week, Steers employees in Menlo Park were seen performing gardening duties rather than their kitchen roles.
Garden duty
The video of the staff on gardening duty was captured by a member of the public. He is seen arguing with what appeared to be the manager of the Steers store, telling the man that the tasks he had assigned to the employees were an “abuse of workers and nonsense.”
“This is an abuse of workers. This brother is a chef, he must, he must work as a chef, he is not a gardener. Why do you do this to black people? That’s nonsense.”
The man takes the garden tools and throws them on the road.
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Investigation
Steers on Thursday said it was aware of the video showing team members performing gardening tasks on 7 January 2026.
“Following an immediate investigation, we established that the manager asked team members to remove excessive weed growth due to a delay in landlord maintenance after the December festive period.
“While keeping a clean exterior is important, this work should not be carried out by team members. This is not standard practice at Steers and is unacceptable,” Steers said.
Formal notice
Steers said it has reviewed all instances of this occurring at this restaurant.
“It’s clear that these individuals made the wrong judgement call. Steers requires all Franchisees to comply fully with South African labour law and our strict food safety and brand.”
Steers said the franchisee has been issued a formal notice.
“The team are engaging with the landlord to ensure that ongoing service providers for exterior maintenance are in place.
“All managers at the restaurant are immediately being retrained on labour practices and the importance of staff maintaining role boundaries,” it said.
Surprised to see @SteersSA employees doing gardening. pic.twitter.com/yOnVeY1P28
— Nkululeko Ncube (@Wandi_SA) January 21, 2026
Guidelines
Steers said it is implementing “clearer operational guidelines” to prevent anything of this nature from happening again.
The restaurant said it is committed to addressing practices that “undermine our food safety standards and the dignity and working conditions of our staff.”
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