WATCH: Soldier slaps store owner outside mall
The man has since opened a case of assault against a member of the SANDF.
LIMPOPO – What started out as a busy day amid the lockdown at the Masingita Mall on 6 May, turned out to be a nightmare for shop owner Sajid Patel (34) when members of the SANDF controlling a line of customers outside the mall, mistook him for a shopper trying to bypass the queue.
The mall is situated in Giyani, roughly 155 kilometres from Limpopo’s capital city of Polokwane.
Patel said he left his shop after midday to buy lunch outside the mall, and upon his return, was refused entry by members of the SANDF.
“They instructed me to join the queue with the other shoppers. I tried in vain to explain that I was the owner of a shop inside the mall,” he told Polokwane Review.
According to Patel, he then asked the members of the SANDF to allow him to call security guards at the mall, who would be able to confirm his identity, a request he was also refused. “I suggested to go and fetch one of the guards myself, when the one soldier told me to ‘Voertsek’ and join the queue.” According to him, joining the line was not an option since the queue was long and this would have resulted in him being away from his shop for close to three hours.
“As I was trying to explain this to them, one of the soldiers slapped me out of the blue. At no point did I provoke him, I was just requesting to go back to my shop,” Patel said.
He said he consequently phoned the mall management for assistance, as well as the police.
Once the police arrived, the situation took a racial tone when one of the other soldiers then referred to him in a derogative manner. “While the soldier who slapped me was seemingly apologetic, one of the other soldiers then started insulting me.”
Patel, who has since opened a case of assault at the Giyani Police Station, says the treatment he had to endure was unacceptable. “First they did not want to listen to me. Then they made me look like a foreigner in my own country. I am in South Africa trying to make a living just like everyone else.”
Normsa Ncongwane, the Manager of Masingita Mall said a discussion was held with the SANDF members following the incident.
“Since they are not employed by us, we can’t discipline them, but we did have a conversation to say this behaviour is unacceptable. We fully support the case opened by Mr Patel against the soldier that was involved in the dispute,” she said.
The incident is one of many reports that surfaced since the lockdown started, displaying the heavy-handedness of members of the SANDF. Close to 3 000 soldiers had been deployed by the President, Cyril Ramaphosa to assist the police in enforcing the lockdown regulations.
The Giyani Police confirmed that a case of assault had been opened, and that an investigation is underway.
Comment could not immediately be sourced from the SANDF.
*Notice: Coronavirus reporting at Caxton Local Media aims to combat fake news
Dear reader,
As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.
Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).
