Humiliated, Profiled, and Abused at Clicks Killarney Mall

I have never in my life been disrespected, humiliated, and profiled the way I was this morning at Clicks in Killarney Mall. From the moment I walked into the store, a man was watching and following me through every single aisle. It was clear that I was being ********ly and racially profiled as a suspected shoplifter before I had done absolutely anything wrong.

I selected my items and went to the till to make payment. My purchase totaled approximately R300, which I paid for in full. While still inside the store, I bumped into an old friend. We decided to step out together to continue our conversation outside, and the very moment I walked out with my friend, the beepers suddenly went off on me — publicly embarrassing and humiliating me in front of my friend and everyone around.

Let me be very clear: I had nothing on me. I had already paid. And after they searched me, nothing was removed, because there was nothing to remove. What exposes their misconduct even further is this: after the search, I walked through those same beepers again — and they did NOT go off. That alone proves that the alarm was intentionally triggered the first time to justify stopping and searching me. There was no unpaid item, no security tag, no malfunction — just a deliberate setup to search me.

Instead of following basic retail procedure by first checking my slip or scanning for a tag, they immediately treated me like a ******** and ordered me to the back of the store. When I tried to explain that this was not the correct protocol, I was ignored and further intimidated. They then called in mall security as backup, escalating the situation as if I were violent or dangerous.

At the back, they searched me and found absolutely nothing, because I had done absolutely nothing wrong. Yet despite this, they attempted to strip-search me. Even after already searching me and finding nothing, they still insisted on stripping me naked. This was not only degrading, traumatizing, and abusive, it was ******* and a gross violation of my human dignity.

I refused and demanded that they call the police, because what they were doing was ********, aggressive, and driven by profiling and prejudice.

What happened to me today was not a misunderstanding or a mistake — it was a deliberate act of profiling, manipulation, ************, and abuse of power. The fact that the beepers only went off the first time and not after the search exposes their intention clearly: they wanted an excuse to search me. This was calculated, dehumanizing, and completely unacceptable, and I will not be silent about it.