KFC South Africa Hit By Second Health Scandal In Knife Sharpening Fracas [Video]
A fast food outlet near Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, closed for business Friday after what is the second health scandal to hit KFC South Africa in less than two weeks.
The Inquisitr previously reported on the story of workers at KFC Braamfontein who were caught on camera washing chicken pieces with a hose on the concrete floor outside. This incident was cleared up by KFC South Africa management saying that the chicken “had never been intended for human consumption.”
However, now a second incident has happened in the KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa.
The KFC South Africa branch in Umhlanga Ridge near Durban had to close Friday after video footage of a worker at that branch showed him apparently sharpening a knife on the pavement outside the restaurant, close to a garbage bin. The video went viral, causing a major stir on the social media yet again.
RT@toxinews KFC employee filmed sharpening knife on pavement at the Coastlands Umhlanga branch http://t.co/F6FjeSEiFT pic.twitter.com/sMp7kuEuYU
— ??????? ~? (@N_ata6ha) May 22, 2015
It was apparently a nearby resident, Ashrana Chanderanberg, who posted the video to a restaurant review page on Facebook. She took the footage from her apartment balcony overlooking the building housing the KFC Coastlands branch.
Chanderanberg also noted in her post that residents in the area were often awoken by the “agonizing sounds of sharpening knives.”
Facebook users reacted in various ways to the post with some expressing shock and others finding it humorous.
As with the previous KFC health scandal incident, the managing director of KFC Africa, Doug Smart, was quick to comment and said that the company is investigating the incident, saying again that they take their “quality standards extremely seriously.”
In the meantime, the outlet is closed and has a sign on the door saying they are “temporarily closed due to unforeseen circumstances” until further notice.
When the Independent tried to interview a man who appeared to be the manager of the KFC South Africa outlet, he declined to comment and apparently locked himself in with staff performing cleaning duties on the fast food outlet.
#KFC employee filmed sharpening knife on pavement, Coastlands Natal KFC this time… http://t.co/ANmu6k1OTB” — newyusuf (@newyusuf) May 22, 2015
However, News24 managed to speak to the actual manager, Cookie Naik, who said she was not aware of the incident taking place.
It turns out the KFC South Africa branch is also a drive-through, and residents in the area were looking forward to an unusually quiet evening Friday. Normally, they reportedly have to put up with the loud voices of staff members as well as loud music blaring from the cars heading through the outlet until late at night, which is apparently particularly bad on Fridays.
It seems a virtual war has been going on between the KFC South Africa outlet and local residents, and one person, who preferred to remain anonymous, spoke of the ongoing activities.
“People even used to take eggs and throw them at the KFC workers.
“Then in the morning the workers would come out early and shout: ‘Good morning, everybody! Wake up now!’
“I would be awake already, so I thought it was fun. But, shame, the poor people who were sleeping!”
Reportedly, this particular KFC South Africa fast-food outlet is located across the road from two apartment blocks and is situated in a shopping complex along with the Coastlands Hotel.
Anyone visiting South Africa might be seriously thinking twice about buying that “finger-licking good” chicken in the future.
[Image: Screen grab from YouTube video]
