Knives out for Umhlanga KFC staff

Durban - The knives are out for Umhlanga’s Gatemax KFC employees who were at the centre of a fresh row which saw video footage of a knife being “sharpened” on a pavement last week. 

The footage, first posted on a restaurant review page on Facebook, was filmed from the balcony of an adjacent hotel.

In a statement, KFC Africa MD Doug Smart said that company policy had been violated.

“KFC takes the health and safety of our customers very seriously. The team members at our Gatemax Restaurant in Umhlanga breached our strict policy of maintaining the highest standards,” he said.  

“We will not tolerate this behaviour and have taken immediate and strict disciplinary action to address this to make sure the restaurant maintains our high brand standards,” he said.

Ashrana Chanderanberg who uploaded the video clip to the Facebook group said: “This is what happens every morning @KFC Coastlands Umhlanga....

"We residence [sic] off Horizon view and Ridgeton Towers back of KFC Coastlands instead of awakening to the smell of KFC we awaken by this agonising sounds of sharpening knives...” 

The video showed a man crouched down and sharpening knives on the pavement, she said.

The furore around the video followed another incident, when KFC staff from a Braamfontein outlet were filmed washing chicken pieces on the floor using a fire hose.