WATCH: ‘Don’t call me mandjie’
WENT VIRAL: The brawl between two women at a Clicks outlet in Pretoria. Photo: Screengrab WENT VIRAL: The brawl between two women at a Clicks outlet in Pretoria. Photo: Screengrab
A white woman was nearly moered after she was accused of calling a black woman a “mandjie”.
The brawl took place inside a Clicks store in Pretoria on Friday, and it was initially believed one of the women involved was a Clicks employee.
However, the company denied this and said the incident involved two customers.
Part of the incident, which was filmed in the Clicks Grove store, garnered over 17 000 views on Facebook.
In the 28-second video, a black woman dressed in a blue shirt which looks similar to the Clicks staff uniform, is seen trying to hit a white woman while another woman, dressed in an orange blouse, is heard shouting: “Who is a monkey, who is a monkey, where is the manager?!”
WENT VIRAL: The brawl between two women at a Clicks outlet in Pretoria. Video: Twitter
The white woman is being shielded by a security guard and then someone else is heard shouting, “She said mandjie, not monkey!”
It is understood the white woman was speaking in Afrikaans and was asking for a shopping basket, which was mistaken as a racial slur.
People on Facebook called on the public to boycott Clicks for two reasons - one camp believes staff had tried to protect an alleged racist, while the other camp believes an employee tried to hit the woman.
Chief Operations Officer for Clicks, Vikesh Ramsunder, says: “Clicks can confirm that an altercation between customers took place at Clicks Grove in Pretoria on 23 August at approximately 6.30pm.
“No Clicks staff members were involved in the incident. The person in blue in the video on social media was not a Clicks staff member.”
He says staff at the store dealt with the incident in a professional manner.
“We acted in order to protect our customers and called the police. The matter is being handled by the SAPS and we are co-operating fully with the authorities,” Ramsunder added.
“It is unfortunate that this incident took place in a Clicks store between customers and we would like to reaffirm that Clicks does not tolerate or condone racism in any form.”
Pretoria police confirmed one of the black women has laid a complaint at the Silverton Police Station, and that police are investigating a case of crimen injuria.