The onbeskofte BMW driver who went viral for swearing at a petrol pump attendant who was busy clamping his wheel for illegal parking has come forward to say sorry.
The 28-second clip shows the burly driver of a white, branded BMW approaching the attendant at the Shell garage in Rondebosch telling him: “Don’t touch my p*** car, take it off, take it off.”
When another petrol attendant tells him to park somewhere else, the harregat driver replies: “Why don’t you f*** off man, get a proper job.”
He then hops into his car and his female passenger drive off.
The padvark has now been identified as Renzo Torrente who has released a statement on social media.
It reads: ”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 welcomed 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.”
He also addressed social media users who had labelled him as a racist.
Torrente said this could not be ‘further from the truth’ as the person he had been swearing at “is the same race” as him.
The BMW Car Club Cape Town previously released a statement on their social media pages saying that they are aware of the incident involving a member and do not condone the man’s behaviour.
Killarney International Raceway has since also taken 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.”
However, the apology was not welcomed by social media users as many felt it is not sincere.
Monique October commented that it was “the lamest apology ever’, while Quentin Smit said: ”Thing is, would he be taking the same action had the video not gone viral.”
marsha.dean@inl.co.za