By: Poelano Malema
Social media was abuzz on Wednesday evening after a video surfaced showing a man who was kicked out of a Clicks store because he was wearing his traditional attire.
The Ndebele Activist, Thando Mahlangu, took to Twitter to share how he was recently kicked out of the store at the Boulders Centre in Midrand because of his traditional outfit.
He claimed that he was confronted by the Centre Manager who verbally harassed him and told him what he was wearing was inappropriate.
In an interview with Sowetan Live, the man said he was accused of wearing underwear by the security guard who then called the Centre Manager.
” The guard told me I was merely wearing an underwear and this was chasing away customers, and due to this I was not allowed to buy at the mall. I refused to leave and I told the security guard to call the person who instructed him that he must tell me to leave the mall,” Mahlangu told the publication.
In the video, the manager can be heard saying “this is my mall” and “we’ve got a right of admission. I don’t condone this in my mall.”
When Mahlangu asked how his traditional attire is inappropriate, especially because he was in Africa, the manager can be heard saying it is inappropriate because he is in a public place. He then asked Mahlangu to leave the store.
Mahlangu took to Twitter to share his frustration.
“Saddest reality in Africa, I was subjected to inside the @Clicks_SA store at The Boulders Shopping Center. By the center manager, who said it was his shopping complex. I was told that I’m wearing inappropriate I must go & Omega risk solutions harassed me,” he wrote on Twitter.
Saddest reality in Africa, I was subjected to inside the @Clicks_SA store at The Boulders Shopping Center. By the center manager, who said it was his shopping complex. I was told that I’m wearing inappropriate I must go & Omega risk solutions harassed me #NdebeleTwitter pic.twitter.com/klzmTQspJO
— #WeNeedAmaNdebeleOnTV (@thandomahlangu_) March 24, 2021
Since the video emerged, Clicks released a statement saying its store manager intervened and Mahlangu could continue shopping.
It said it will issue a “formal complaint” against the Centre Manager.
“The Centre Manager of Boulders and the Boulders Centre security demanded that the customer leave. Our store manager intervened and asked the Centre Manager to leave. The customer was allowed to continue shopping. We will be putting in a formal complaint,” it wrote on Twitter.
The Centre Manager of Boulders and the Boulders Centre security demanded that the customer leave.
Our store manager intervened and asked the Centre Manager to leave. The customer was allowed to continue shopping.
We will be putting in a formal complaint.
— Clicks (@Clicks_SA) March 24, 2021


