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Warren Mark was shocked and appalled when a fellow shopper not only keyed his car but also called him a racial slur outside a shopping centre in Margate, KwaZulu-Natal. The derogatory word is used to refer to people of Indian descent in South Africa.
The incident happened after he accidentally reversed into a woman with his Toyota Fortuner at the Margate Centre on Tuesday afternoon. He was at the mall during his lunch break.
"I was waiting for another vehicle to reverse from a parking spot, but I could see the car was struggling to move out. I then reversed just a bit to give that person room to come out.
"As I moved back I just touched a lady that walked behind the car. I just touched her leg," he said.
"She showed no signs of injury."
According to Mark, the woman's husband immediately became hostile toward him, kicking and punching the vehicle. He then proceeded to use the racial slur.
The couple then went shopping.
Mark decided to phone the police and waited for the couple to return to their car.
"It was then when I decided to take out my phone and start recording because he called me a 'coo**e' the first time and it so happened that he did it again after I waited for them to return," he said. In the video of the altercation the man is heard saying that he's a lawyer.
"When I stopped recording, he then keyed the car." Mark says the damages to his Fortuner amount to roughly R7 000.
(The damage caused to Warren Mark's Toyota Fortuner after a man allegedly keyed the vehicle. Photo: Supplied)
Mark later followed the man to the Margate police station where he opened a case.
Police have confirmed that a case of crimen injuria and malicious damage to property was opened at Margate police station.
"At this stage the matter is still under investigation," the investigating officer Constable Akona Dlungana told News24.
"We can confirm that there was damage [caused] to the vehicle with a key," she said.
After speaking to the man in question, he stated briefly that the matter would be dealt with in court, and declined to comment further.
