Cape Town – A video has gone viral of a security guard being mowed down with a rugby tackle by a member of the public at the Garden Route Mall in George in the Southern Cape.
In the video, the security guard can be seen pulling a woman who allegedly entered the mall yesterday without a face mask, defying the lockdown level 3 regulations.
While the tug-of-war and remonstrating continues between the two – with the woman's companion trying to intervene – a man comes from nowhere to mow down the guard in a rugby tackle.
While allegations that the guard has since been fired caused a stir on social media, the Garden Route Mall management denied this, saying in a statement the guard and the security company have opened a charge against the man.
Police are investigating the incident and a group of concerned residents are set to approach the mall's management today to establish the facts around the incident.
A Facebook user claimed this was the second time a guard has been attacked by a shopper, who allegedly contravened the level 3 regulations, at the mall and that the case has gone to court.
In another post to the Garden Route Mall, a Facebook user, who lives in George, commented: "Do you think it's fair that customers can now assault security guards for doing their job? That lady and her husband wanted to enter the mall without wearing masks?
"No one is special, abide by the rules. This 'the customer is always right' won't work here. Your own employees aren't even safe now.
"The security guards are just as important as anyone else there at the mall because they are putting their lives on the line to ensure safety for us, our parents, our siblings, our kids and our women.
"If the security guards retaliated, they'd be jobless. That couple needs to be banned from the mall."