"O A BA TAEBA BASOTHO BA JWANG!" which translates to, "you know how blacks are!"

"O A BA TAEBA BASOTHO BA JWANG" which translates to, "you know how blacks are." The were the words uttered by a security guard at SPAR PALEDI MALL in Mankweng/Ga-Thoka.

I was late to buy bread at Spar this evening as I arrived just when the security guards were closing the doors to the store. While myself and a few others tried to negotiate our way through, two older gentlemen simply entered the store through the exit and nothing was said or done to them for defying the rules and when I protested against the unfair treatment I was told that the store is closed and the two gentlemen entered while the security guards were busy. I protested further to which the security became aggressive and extremely unprofessional and went further to say, "O a ba tseba Basotho ba jwang" which was a disgusting and dehumanising comment aimed at me. Naturally, I became agitated and protested further against the disgusting morbidly obese security guard. Who then just ignored me.

Today, SPAR taught me that following the rules and speaking up against unfair treatment while black deserves nothing but extreme **************, intolerance and ******; which is stupid because the security guard is also black and ninety nine percent of customers at that SPAR are black.

That situation left me questioning myself and my identity. I felt like I was wrong just for being black. I even forgot the unfair treatment and was focused on being a black who dared to protest against unfair treatment by the giant that is SPAR. This is a new experience for me. I don't see myself recovering from this. The person I am and the way I feel about myself is damaged. My experience at Spar has been altered forever.