By: Natasha Archary
Airbnb has suspended a Durban accommodation account after a guest was warned about a “racist dog” who would attack him if he was outside.
Businessman, Wandile Mthiyane said he booked the Durban accommodation listing for a month to help him focus on work.
He shared how he had also had a discriminatory encounter at a beachfront restaurant in the city.
On, 05 October, Wandile tweeted what he was told by the owner of the property he was to stay at.
“I just got into my Airbnb and my white South African host told me she has a racist dog, so I should coordinate with her when to be outside. I swear I wish I were making this s**t up.”
The owner, whose name is unknown reportedly told Wandile that her dog was “racist” towards black people because he was rescued from a township after being abused.
With the help of Twitter, Wandile eventually received help from Airbnb and was moved to a hotel for 3-days and fully refunded.
While Airbnb maintains that it does not tolerate discrimination, Wandile said it took 2-days before they reverted and in the interim he was restricted during his stay.
Apart from refunding Wandile, Airbnb has also suspended the owner’s account, and say they will fully investigate the matter.
“Since 2016, Airbnb has removed more than 2.5 million people from the platform for declining to agree to this commitment, and we investigate and take action where we are made aware of behaviour that may violate our policies.
Under the Airbnb Open Doors initiative, if a guest anywhere in the world feels they have been discriminated against, we provide timely, personalised and hands-on support from a specially trained Airbnb employee to ensure the guest finds a place to stay.”
Airbnb has suspended a Durban accommodation owner from the short-term homestays and experiences platform after a guest said he was told that the dog on the property was “racist”.
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