Should restaurant patrons who smell like weed be denied service at a restaurant? That’s the question South Africans are asking after one of the country’s top rappers was denied service along with two friends.
South African rapper Emtee was denied service, along with two fellow rappers, from a branch of Mike’s Kitchen in Johannesburg, South Africa earlier this month after the restaurant complained that they smelled like weed. (Personal cannabis use at home is decriminalized and medical use is legal in South Africa.) The incident is prompting a national debate about the odor of cannabis in public spaces, and many people think the rappers were profiled as well.
Emtee, who has millions of followers on Instagram, along with rappers Uncle Vinny and Yungseruno, said they were refused entry from Mike’s Kitchen in Parktown because they were “smelling of weed and had too many tattoos.” The restaurant chain is known for South African heritage-based dishes.
TimesLIVE, South Africa’s second-biggest news website, reports that Emtee’s lawyers demanded an apology from Mike’s Heritage House in the upscale Parktown neighborhood of Johannesburg or he will take legal action against the restaurant.
“We decided to go have lunch at Mikes Kitchen, Parktown,” Emtee said. “We were dropped off. We walked in and as we were being ushered to our table, a white man comes and tells us to leave because we ‘smell of weed and we had too many tattoos’. Mind you, our transport has left. This ho ass nigga kicked out the yard,” Emtee said.
While apartheid ended decades ago, a severe case of race inequality remains rampant in Johannesburg, with nearly 40% of Black South Africans unemployed, a much higher ratio than their white counterparts. South African leaders, however, are currently taking measures to promote equity. On …
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Author: Benjamin M. Adams / High Times
