An oupa accused of stealing was locked in a freezer for seven hours, allegedly by security officers.
Sandile Khwintshi, 52, was at Shoprite in Gugulethu Mall when he was caught with two small drills on Sunday afternoon before 12pm.
He was then taken to the back offices where he was allegedly assaulted by staff members and locked up in a cold storage unit.
A traumatised Sandile tells the Daily Voice: “I was at Shoprite on Sunday when a man I know asked me to keep the drills. I thought he bought them so I walked out of the shop.
“The security stopped me and said I had stolen the items.
“I kept trying to explain to them that I had not taken the drilling machines but they didn’t want to hear anything, and said I was the thief.
“They beat me up and then they threw me in the walk-in freezer.”
He says they kept him in the ice-cold room for hours and didn’t even check up on him until their shift was over.
The old man adds: “I was in the freezer from 12pm in the afternoon until 7pm when the shop was closed. The staff didn’t come to check on me at all up until they released me.
“By the time they came to me I was really cold, shivering and in pain because of the beating, my thumb was swollen.
“Emotionally, I’m still not feeling good. I am planning on opening a case against Shoprite.
Gugulethu Community Policing Forum spokesperson Linda Kabeni is shocked by the incident.
Kabeni says: “At a time where we are supposed to be celebrating the democratic dispensation, a black person is still not being respected.
“When someone has been accused of theft, in our understanding, law enforcement agencies must be called.
“You don’t put people into fridges, we are dismayed by Shoprite but we understand why they did it, it’s because it’s a poor black person that has no means of taking legal actions against Shoprite.
“We are calling upon all Chapter 9 institutions, like the Human Rights Commissions and the Public Protector and the media to hold Shoprite accountable for their actions.”
However, Shoprite said initial reports indicate that at no time was anybody held in a cold storage facility at Shoprite Gugulethu on Sunday.
“As it is a police matter, we cannot provide further comment. We will give our full cooperation to the South African Police Service [SAPS] to assist their investigations.”
Sergeant Wesley Twigg says: “Gugulethu police are investigating a kidnapping case following an incident at a supermarket in which a 52-year-old man was put in a freezer by security personnel on Sunday, 25 August 2024.
“The case was opened by the complainant on Tuesday afternoon. No arrests have been made yet.”