The 21-year-old woman at the receiving end of an alleged racial slur - at a Cape Town fast food restaurant - never approached police because she didn’t want to "hinder" the man's future.


Rachel Emma Wood was apparently attacked by a man standing with a group who had been holding up the drive-through. When she enquired about the delay the group allegedly demanded‚ ''Give our land back''. One man even allegedly threatened to kill her.

Wood said she only posted her status and video of the incident to teach the man that his actions were wrong. She also chose not to report the incident to the restaurant's management.

“I didn’t do it [open a case with police] because I didn’t wanted to hinder his future‚” she said.

Wood said she was taken aback and saddened that there were people who still treated others on the basis of their skin colour.

“I do not want to cause problems for his future unless he continues with his hatred‚” she added.

Wood posted a video on Facebook and gave an account of the incident which took place in the drive-through of the restaurant on April 28.

She said they were in the queue for between 10 to 15 minutes.

“I got out the car to see what was going on. I saw a group of people at the window‚ and asked if everything was good. Instantly the group turned to me and all began shouting at me and the one guy said 'give back our land'‚” she wrote.

She replied that she only wanted a take away and that it had nothing to do with race.

“The guys then followed me as I walked to the car and we began to argue as I was climbing in. He [one of the men] then threatened to kill me and my friend‚ saying that the blacks are coming for the white‚” she said.

Wood said the man later got closer and pushed her against the vehicle but she managed to get into her car.

“He and his friends then decided to hit as well as kick my friend’s car and window. He then went to my friend’s window and began putting his hand in her face and calling us "white bitches" and other racial slurs‚” she added on Facebook.

Wood told TimesLive that she doesn’t know the man but was told that he was a student activist.

Said Wood: “There is a lot of people who took it too far by threatening and saying how they would beat him and stuff like that. I don’t feel like that’s a good approach‚” she said.

While she anticipated a backlash‚ when she uploaded the video‚ she received messages of support instead.

“A lot of black people have messaged me saying that I need to understand that this doesn’t represent how all black people feel‚” she said.