Watch! Male Consumer Attacks Pregnant Shoprite Cashier. Zimkhitha Xhalabile, a pregnant Shoprite cashier, was attacked by a male consumer at Strand in the Western Cape.
Zimkhitha Xhalabile, a pregnant Shoprite cashier, was attacked by a male consumer at Strand in the Western Cape. The supermarket franchise has banned the male consumer from its shops. The cashier is eight months through her pregnancy.
By the time the consumer came to her till she had already closed the till. The consumer requested for Zimkhitha Xhalabile to help him. The pregnant cashier then says that the closed sign was already there. “The closed sign was there, he removed it and said I had not left, I must assist him,” says Zimkitha Xhalabile. She says that at first she debated with the consumer, asking him to use an open till. However, when the male consumer started being hostile she thus chose to help him.
The cashier says they were exchanging insults as she was scanning his items. “While I scanned his items we kept on exchanging insults, saying for me to get paid he has to buy and I must respect him as a customer,” says Zimkhitha Xhalabile. The consumer was seen on CCTV footage of the incident, whereby he was debating with the cashier and doing hand gestures before attacking her with a fist. A guard came as the consumer was debating with the cashier, he then stepped forward to aid Xhalabile after she was attacked by the male consumer.
A manager came to escort the consumer out of the supermarket. The cashier called her husband so that he could take her to the hospital and police station so that she can open a case. “Shoprite…did not apprehend the man who assaulted me. He was escorted out by the security,” says Zimkhitha Xhalabile. The cashier’s husband says that when he came to supermarket, he found his wife crying and bruised. Zimkhitha Xhalabile says that she was given off of work for four days and was told that if she wanted to get over the incident she should come back to work.
Shoprite says the cashier was asked to come back to work after the counsellor’s recommendation. “She was off duty for just over a week after the incident and to assist her in dealing with the trauma, during this time also received counselling arranged by the company and rescheduled to work again based on the counselor’s recommendation for he to resume duties,” says Shoprite. FC Van Wyk, the police spokesperson, says a case of assault was opened by the pregnant woman. The police spokesperson says, “The incident took place at a shop in a shopping mall in Lwandle where the complainant was physically assaulted by a customer after an argument.” They have not apprehended the male as of yet, however, they are still examining.
by Alexandra Ramaite
