“Not Good Enough”: Steers’ Response to Viral Gardening Video Causes a Stir Among South Africans

• The fast-food franchise Steers released a statement following the virality of a video showing Pretoria employees doing garden work
• Steers shared the actions that were taken for the "unacceptable" duties performed, which included issuing a formal notice
• South Africans online expressed how unimpressed they were with the statement and said it wasn't a good enough response

After a video of a man stopping Steers employees from doing garden work at a mall, reportedly from a franchise in Menlo Park, went viral, the fast-food chain released a statement to address the matter. However, not all South Africans were impressed with their response.

Content creator Lebusa Mamaregane, who has a passion for social justice, uploaded the viral clip to the app on 21 January 2026. It showed three Steers workers with garden equipment removing weeds being questioned by Lebusa as to why they were performing the task. After one of the men in purple says, "Eish, go itsi Modimo fela (Only God knows)," the video cuts to Lebusa confronting the manager and alleging abuse.

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Watch the TikTok video posted on Lebusa's account below:

Steers took to social media the following day, noting that the incident, which they had investigated, occurred on 7 January 2026.

"We established that the manager asked team members to remove excessive [growth of weeds] due to a delay in landlord maintenance after the December festive period.

"This is not standard practice at Steers and is unacceptable."

The statement also read that the franchise was issued a formal notice, and the team conversed with the landlord to ensure that there are ongoing service providers for exterior maintenance. Managers will also be retrained, and Steers will implement clearer operational guidelines to prevent similar incidents.

Take a look at the statement posted on Steers' X account below:

South Africans react to Steers' statement

The statement caused quite a stir among South Africans, who expressed their thoughts about the action taken.

@busiwe_bubu asked Steers:

"Training managers after the fact isn't enough. Were the workers paid extra for manual labour? Or were they just told to do it because the landlord didn't?"

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An unimpressed @Tsogang3 commented:

"You are not saying anything here."

@nombshab added to the conversation:

"That's not good enough. Where's the apology to the workers? Why was the manager not carrying out the maintenance as well?"

@dontjustdontplz showed humour in the comment section, writing:

"Can't lie, you're getting cooked flame-grilled style."

3 Other stories about Steers

• In another article, Briefly News reported that ATM leader Vuyo Zungula urged people to boycott Steers following the viral incident.
• An awkward encounter left a Steers employee grossed out after a nurse participated in the viral ice cream flirt challenge.
• A video showed a thief snatching a Steers drive-thru order, which prompted online users to express a mixture of disappointment and laughter.

Source: Briefly News