Man Ordered To Leave A Mall In South Africa Because Of Indecent African Attire

A regular visit to the Clicks mall in Johannesburg, South Africa, turned to a moment of embarrassment for Thando Mahlangu, as he was asked to leave the mall by a man who claimed to be the proprietor. You may be wondering what his crime was. Well, it was nothing more than being dressed in Ndebele traditional clothing.

In case you didn’t know, the Ndebele is one of the smallest ethnic groups in South Africa, and are a minority. In a video clip of the incident, the man who claimed to be the mall’s proprietor can be seen and heard telling Thando that there is a right of admission, and that he cannot tolerate such an outfit, so he had to leave the premises.

He can also be heard telling Thando that the mall is a public place, and that his Ndebele dressing is indecent. You can also hear Thando trying to defend his attire, saying it is a piece of African clothing and there’s nothing wrong with it. Thando can be heard saying – “You are telling me I’m not supposed to wear African clothes in Africa,” In response, the man who claimed to own the mall can be heard saying – “I’m saying this is a public place … I’m not allowing that here, this is my mall … right of admission is reserved.”

Thando’s girlfriend was present during the time of the incident, and she was heard saying – “This is Africa, then you can’t tell someone what to do, what to wear, at which mall”. Thando said he left the mall with a broken heart, as he never believed he would be kicked out of a mall in his home country for wearing his ethnic group’s native attire.

The management of the mall released a statement regarding the incident. “The Boulders Shopping Centre would like to apologize unreservedly for the incident that took place”. “The center would like to clarify that it does not deny entry based on appearances and clothes. It is unfortunate that the incident that occurred inside Clicks is being viewed as intolerant towards other cultures and clothes”.

“We take this opportunity to once again apologize to those who feel hurt by the incident. The decision was taken in the interests of other shoppers and employees of the mall,” As you can expect, the mall and it’s entire management were heavily criticized by social media users for their maltreatment of Thando.

Over the years, ethnic discrimination has been a regular occurrence in South Africa, as members of minority groups have suffered injustices at the hands of some members of larger ethnicities. There has also been several xenophobic attacks against foreigners from other African countries. These attacks have left many foreigners dead or displaced.