“Black Lives Don’t Matter”: Nando's SA responds to Gareth Cliff racism controversy

• Nando's SA has released a public statement following the backlash from its latest episode of 'The Burning Platform'
• The company says it remains committed to freedom of speech but cannot condone the insensitive remarks made by Cliff on its platform
• The restaurant emphasised that a serious review over claims of racism was underway

Nando's SA has finally responded following the controversy surrounding seasoned broadcaster, Gareth Cliff. The radio DJ has been taking the heat on social media after blatantly denying that racism is an important issue when it comes to elections in SA.

He made the remarks while speaking on 'The Burning Platform', a radio podcast sponsored by Nando's SA.

Responding to Cliff's sharp remarks, Nandos SA said they are aware of the incident. The company also had this to say:

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"We are a proudly South African brand that takes the right to freedom of speech very seriously."

The restaurant giant went on to share that they do not condone invalidating anyone's experience, as many people accuse Cliff of doing, and are reviewing the matter very seriously.

Check out one woman's viral response to the controversy:

Gareth Cliff causes frenzy online after racism remarks: 'Yours is unimportant'

In related news, Briefly News previously reported that veteran South African broadcaster Gareth Cliff has a social media windstorm coming for him, that is if it already hasn't, following his latest controversial remarks.

Cliff was hosting an instalment in which he invited One SA Movement's Mudzuli Rakhivhane and John Steenhuisen of the Democratic Alliance (DA) to discuss the news of the day ahead of the elections.

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Amid a heated discussion on CliffCentral around the DA's recently contentious election posters in Phoenix, the former Idols SA Judge made a few snide remarks directed at Rakhivhane.

The two were talking over each other, but Cliff was heard clearly saying Rakhivhane's experience of racism was insignificant.

Stressing on his point, he iterated that the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) has supposedly shown endless reports of people who argue that racism is at the least of their concerns.

A Twitter user, @anna_swan_001, shared one isolated clip of the exchange, which lasts for about 45 seconds.

"Just get over it. The IRR found racism is NOT the problem," the caption read.

When Rakhivhane raised the point that the IRR doesn’t experience the racism she's exposed to daily, the radio host replied by saying her personal experience is completely "anecdotal and unimportant" to all.

The short but heated debate has undeniably caused a stir online, with many rebranding Cliff as 'South Africa's favourite racist' following his well-documented track record for making allegedly racist comments.

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Briefly News went down the comments to bring readers all the passionate reactions to the controversy.

@JuliusTumelo wrote:

"I think people should watch the whole interview and then comment. Mudzuli became emotional."

@Aneshree6 said:

"Isn't this racist trash supported by @NandosSA? Two already naaring white men bullying and sniggering at a young, clearly much more intelligent black woman. The audacity and arrogance. And when we get upset about racism we're the problem."

@PearlThusi added:

"The smug look on the DA’s puppet is infuriating."

@charl_cupido offered:

"Ya ne!!! This is what happens when you forgive people who never asked for forgiveness."

Source: Briefly News