Mango Airlines confirmed on Friday it was investigating a text message allegedly sent by one of its employees to another staff member‚ saying they should not return to work because they are black and HIV positive.

The text message‚ in the form of a screengrab posted on social media‚ comes from someone saved as “Mandy HR Mango” in the recipient’s phonebook.

It has since gone viral.

The message reads: “Mango cannot allow you to work with us‚ you are black and Hiv positive. That is just too much for us.” 

Mango spokesperson Sergio dos Santos said it was taking the incident “very seriously” and was “thoroughly investigating the allegations made as a matter of urgency”.

“The SMS in question does not align with our values or policies and we can confirm that it’s not an official communication from the company. We will be releasing more information once it is made available.”

This is a developing story.