Oscar Pistorius joke about Reeva Steenkamp killing printed on cafe till receipts heavily criticised by customers
A New Zealand café has donated to a women’s domestic charity since making the misjudged jest
A New Zealand café has been criticised for joking about Oscar Pistorius’ killing of Reeva Steenkamp.
Scorch-O-Rama, in Scorching Bay, Wellington printed a joke on its receipts, which read: "Oscar Pistorius was super keen to get a new bathroom door, but his girlfriend was dead against it."
Last month, the Paralympian was found guilty of culpable homicide after he shot his late girlfriend, but was cleared of murder.
He is currently on bail until his sentencing on 13 October. He faces 15 years in prison.
The joke – first printed last Wednesday – was removed from receipts, after social media users complained about the "repulsive" quip.
On Facebook, Carrie Bee wrote: "How could anyone think that a case of domestic violence that ends in a woman's death is funny? You disgust me."
Another Facebook user, Sandy Coombes commented: "I wonder if Mr & Mrs Steenkamp would think it was funny. Very bad taste."
Denise Ritchie added: "You needed complaints before realising your 'joke' was totally out of order? Your IQ is? For you to even explore jokes around a man's culpable homicide of his girlfriend shows you are part of the global travesty of male violence against women."
The café’s owner, Keith Morrison, has apologised and said that Scorch-O-Rama always runs jokes on its receipts. He is considering ending the practice.
The café has also donated $1,000 to Women’s Refuge.
"Obviously this one hasn't gone down well," he told the New Zealand Herald. "Honestly, I'm s***ing myself that I've made a massive error."
An apology was also published on the café’s Facebook page, although the account has since been seemingly deleted.
"Scorch-o-Rama would like to apologise for any offence caused by a comment that was put on the bottom of our receipts," the café’s Facebook post originally read.
"The comment was in bad taste and has been removed. We apologise again for any hurt or distress we caused people - it was absolutely never our intention."