Man allegedly dies in Shoprite cold room – security fires rubber bullets at protesters and journalists

Bandile Tshabalala (33) died on Sunday, 19 May after allegedly being locked in a cold room at Shoprite in Heidelberg for about 11 hours for allegedly stealing a chocolate from the supermarket in Ratanda Mall, some 70km from Johannesburg.

His sister Simangele Tshabalala said that on Sunday night, “I was sleeping, then I heard a loud knock. At first, I assumed my brother was back home only to be told that he had died.

“I didn’t believe it, and wanted to see for myself.”

A barefoot Tshabalala and her brother’s friends rushed to the mall, where they saw his lifeless body. It had allegedly been removed from the cold room and placed outside Shoprite.

“What I saw broke my heart. His body was frozen, he could not move or anything; it’s like he died while trying to keep himself warm — with hands wrapped around his upper body,” she said.

Shoprite did not respond to questions sent by Daily Maverick but confirmed it had instituted an investigation into the incident.

“The supermarket chain extends its condolences to the family following their loss. The allegations are seen in an extremely serious light and the necessary steps will be taken pending the outcome of a full investigation.

Read more in Daily Maverick: ‘I know I’m sinning, but it’s for my kids’ – hunger and poverty driving the spike in shoplifting in SA

“We cannot comment on the details of the incident as it is a police matter, and the local South African Police Service (SAPS) should be contacted for more information. We always give our full cooperation and provide all available information to the SAPS to assist their investigation,” Shoprite said.

The Heidelberg police referred queries to the provincial office, which could not be reached for comment by the time of publishing.

Community unrest  

On Monday, a crowd of more than 100 people gathered near Shoprite in the Ratanda Mall and was met by a heavy private security presence. Tensions were high, with Shoprite management apparently refusing to address the angry crowd.

A man who identified himself as a centre manager told Daily Maverick journalists, “Get out, or you’ll have serious problems”.

Moments later, rubber bullets were fired and the crowd fled, with some stopping to throw stones at the guards. Daily Maverick's journalist and photographer also had to shelter from the flying rubber bullets.

The shots continued after the crowd left the premises, forcing bystanders to seek shelter behind trees and cars. A woman walking with her primary school son screamed, “Why are they killing us?”

At least two police vehicles simply drove past the scene of mayhem.

Resident Mooi Macingwane said, “We are being shot at because we want justice and answers. How can they do this when one of us is no more? Nobody deserves to die like that, regardless of what they have done.”

Another resident, Thokoza Dlamini, said that last year, her niece had stolen a packet of cheese from Shoprite and was locked in its cold room.

“They confirmed to me that because police cannot arrest young children, they lock them in the cold room for two hours. It is a normal thing here, we are used to it.”

Shoprite did not respond to the claim.

Bandile Tshabalala’s neighbour Mzwandile Skhosana said, “He was smoking, like the other youth, but we have never heard of a single complaint about him stealing or doing wrong things in the community.  Whenever he was hungry, he would ask for food and we would share as neighbours.”

His sister Simangele said, “I am not saying that he didn’t do the crime, but I doubt it. Even if he did, he didn’t deserve to die like a dog.”

Hours after the incident, Gauteng’s MEC for safety, Faith Mazibuko, addressed a crime imbizo and outlined measures to tackle the scourge of criminality in Ratanda and surrounding areas. These include the deployment of wardens and patrollers, the use of e-panic buttons, and the installation of six CCTV cameras. DM