Anele Mdoda 'feels good' after cancelling Virgin Active membership

Virgin Active membership cancelled. That felt good.

— Anele Mdoda (@Anele) June 19, 2019

In May, a video of an 18-year-old man fondling his private parts while watching a female gym member went viral. This incident took place at a Virgin Active in Stellenbosch.

South Africans were appalled by this and demanded that the place be shut down since it was no longer a safe environment for females.

According to reports, the man was due to appear in the Stellenbosch Magistrate Court, but the gym group dropped the sexual assault case against the man and said they opted for psychological help for the man rather than a criminal sanction.

In a statement to News24, Virgin Active spokesperson Carla White confirmed that it had approached authorities on Wednesday to withdraw the case against the teen.

"The [National Prosecuting Authority] are, however, likely to still set specific conditions that the suspect will be required to meet related to the withdrawal," she explained.

She said the company had taken immediate action when presented with the video, and had identified the teen and banned him for life.

"What he did was wrong, however, we are of the opinion that psychological help may be more appropriate than criminal sanction. We have an undertaking from his lawyer and family that he is receiving counselling and will continue with this course of therapy. We believe this is the most balanced way to deal with the situation."

She said that the clubs were shared spaces, and that they had taken action in accordance with the rules to make them safe.

"We cannot control the behaviour of individuals, but we can take action when their behaviour contravenes our rules. Our sanctions are applied uniformly, regardless of age, race or religion."

READ MORE: Case withdrawn against Stellenbosch gym 'masturbator

Anele was not too pleased with how the situation was handled by the Virgin Active and decided to voice out her opinion on Twitter.