Cape Town - The driver of a BMW who went viral on social media for belittling petrol attendants at a Shell garage in Rondebosch, telling them to get a “proper job”, has come forward with a statement apologising for his actions.
The 28-second video clip shows a petrol attendant on his knees trying to clamp the front tire of the white BMW, when the driver arrives and approaches him, saying: “Hello, touch my p**s car”.
The driver repeatedly tells him to “take it off”.
When another petrol attendant tries to intervene, the driver says, “F**k you, your p**s. I pay f*k*”.
While the petrol attendant removes the clamp, the driver tells him to move while engaging in a back-and-forth exchange with the other petrol attendant who repeatedly tells the driver, “to park somewhere else next time”.
The driver proceeds to tell him, “F**k off, why don’t you f**k off man, get a proper job”.
The driver has been identified as Renzo Torrente who released a statement saying: ”In light of recent events at Shell Rondebosch and the subsequent video which has gone ‘viral’ on social media, I would like to apologise to all affected, including the owners, management and staff at Shell Rondebosch.
“My actions were wrong and I do not deny this, I did make an attempt at an apology in person but understandably so, I was not welcome in at the time, that being said I am still willing to apologise in person if the owners will allow me to do so. I have agreed to repair any damages caused at the owner’s earliest convenience.
“Acting this way is not part of my character and is an isolated incident, it paints me in a very negative light which I would like to rectify,” said Torrente.
In the statement he addressed people on social media who claimed he is racist, saying that it is “further from the truth” as the person he had the verbal altercation with is the same race as him.
He also “challenged” social media users to get all the facts before jumping onto the “racism bandwagon” as it is damaging to his reputation and can cause unnecessary danger.
Killarney International Raceway also took to social media saying: “This motorist's deplorable outburst does not reflect the values of either Killarney International Raceway or BMW Car Club of Cape Town; there is no justification for such verbal abuse of a person who was, after all doing his job. Nevertheless, with this apology from the driver concerned, we hope this matter can now be laid to rest.”
Cape Argus