Kawiti Jack Waetford at Hautapu ceremony at Ōrākei. Photo / Julie Zhu Photography
Kawiti Jack Waetford at Hautapu ceremony at Ōrākei. Photo / Julie Zhu Photography
Professionally trained Māori opera singer Kawiti Jack Waetford claims he was racially profiled at a Northland petrol station after they made him prepay for his gas while a well-dressed Pākehā in a flash truck behind him was allowed to fill up first and then pay.
Waetford stopped at the Kerikeri Caltex last weekend and the attendants wouldn’t let him pump his petrol until he had paid.
But Caltex Kerikeri owner Vasonthia Walallavita says Waetford’s accusations are incorrect and his Facebook posting has caused huge stress and anxiety to his staff. He has sent a full report to Caltex HQ and the staff member who has worked there for six years has taken leave.
Waetford, 32, said had the lady not pulled up at the same time as him, he would have let the situation go as Caltex policy.
“The issue was that they wouldn’t release the pump for me to fill my car, but two seconds later they did it for a well dressed Pākehā lady in a flash truck right in front of me,” Waetford told the Herald today.
“When I challenged them on it they said that they knew her, then they said that it was because they could see her car and not mine. We were on the same lane of pumps, out of his direct view.
Waetford's car on the Caltex Kerikeri forecourt.
“He stated that someone the day before had run off with $600 worth of petrol - as if that had any bearing on this situation.”
“I said to him ‘bro, you picked on the wrong Māori’. If it was one rule for all, kei te pai. But the fact it happened right in front of me is what got me.”
Waetford said he felt he was being treated differently by over-protective pump attendants.
“The issue for me was I was treated differently than another customer, in the space of a few seconds,” Waetford said.
“She was a flash-looking Pākehā woman, and I was a Māori male with a backwards-turned cap, in a Corolla Fielder, and in my view, based on that, I was racially profiled and discriminated against.”
“All of our pumps are on prepay. This is an instruction from Caltex,” Walallavita told the Herald.
“When my staff member tried to explain to him [Waetford] that one of our regular customers was behind him and because they are here every day, the pump was released for that customer.
“But because no one recognised this particular gentleman the staff member couldn’t release the pump. If he required a refund, he would have received it immediately.”
Walallavita, who also owns Caltex Kawakawa, said he losses about $500 per month on fill-and-flee drivers and personally carries the costs.
Just last week a person managed to con them out of $570 worth of petrol, filling up a 40-gallon drum on the back of his ute.
Walallavita said the staff member who was confronted by Waetford has been at Caltex Kerikeri for six years and prides himself on being part of the wider Kerikeri community. He is currently on stress leave.
Joseph Los’e joined NZME in 2022 as Kaupapa Māori Editor. Los’e was a chief reporter, news director at the Sunday News newspaper covering crime, justice and sport. He was also editor of the NZ Truth and prior to joining NZME worked for Te Whānau o Waipareira.
