A video showing a mother smacking her apparently disabled son at a restaurant in Fourways north of Johannesburg earlier this week is causing outrage on social media.

A report in the Fourways Review said the woman‚ who was seated in the open seating area outside the restaurant‚ had ordered a plate of pasta for the child and was attempting to force feed him.

“The boy wasn’t eating properly‚ maybe he didn’t want the food‚ and the woman became frustrated and began to smack [the boy] across the head and try to force-feed him‚” the report quoted the co-owner of the restaurant‚ Kyri Tjirkos‚ as saying‚

Nearby patrons saw this and tried to intervene‚ telling the woman that she could not do that to the boy‚ it said.

“A man sitting nearby approached her‚ and I think at that point she lost complete control. She began swearing at the people watching her‚ hitting the child more and even overturned one of the tables‚ breaking the plates that were on it.

“At this point‚ I went outside and tried to calm the man down‚ because I thought that he was making her more angry and I didn’t want the situation to get physical. Then the [shopping centre’s] security guard arrived on the scene and began comforting the young boy who was crying.”

The woman apologised to Tjirkos for the damage she had caused‚ offered to pay for it and then followed the security guard‚ who had decided to take the child outside to try and calm him‚ the Fourways Review reported.

Click here to view the video