POPI ACT USED AS EXCUSE FOR RACIAL AND GENDER PROFILING

I write this complaint with the utmost disgust at how my mother was treated at your Menlyn Park store which has caused her emotional detriment and I hope for some kind of resolution.

On Saturday 20th of February my mother Patricia Mawelele went into your store to make a purchase and was made to feel like a ******** as she seas profiled for having bought too many Timberland shoes out of sale.

The shop assistant went as far as asking if there was a sale, suggesting to her that a person of a her caliber would need to either be able to make such a purchase on sale or through ******** activity.

She was then asked to produce an ID when paying for her Markham purchase, I can understand that most retailers may reserve this right but this policy was not extended to all customers on the day suggesting that this was enforced due to the disgusting and humiliating profiling that she had to I due as a black woman who does not fit the suggested aesthetic of a woman who can afford an elaborate purchase.

Two things that really concern me are the training of your staff members when it comes to profiling and lack of consistency as I suspect that would be the angle taken to validate this humiliating treatment.

I really hope there will be some kind of remedy for this, and more than anything I expect a full apology.

The resolution I seek beyond the apology is compensation for the embarrassment she has been through by simply choosing to be your patron.