Durban - An Isipingo pensioner was pleasantly surprised when Nomusa Dube-Ncube, the MEC of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs paid his grocery bill on Tuesday.
Michael Marian, 71, had been doing his shopping at the Take n Pay Foodtown Hyper in Westcliff, Chatsworth on Tuesday at the same time the MEC had been carrying out an inspection at the store following allegations of inflated prices.
Marian had looked several times at his trolley while shopping and realised the groceries were more expensive than he had anticipated and needed to consider what to leave behind.
He explained this to Dube-Ncube.
Marian said he could not afford the items on his grocery list and showed her a previous till slip. The prices of some items had gone up.
Nomusa Dube-Ncube, the MEC of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs paid a grocery bill for Isipingo pensioner Michael Marian.
Picture: Chanelle Lutchman
His plight touched Dube-Ncube who paid his bill of R1 600.
However Dube-Ncube did not mince her words during her walkabout.
Apart from not having sanitiser at their entrances, the shop came under scrutiny for its prices on various meat products on sale, which were alleged to be "too high".
According to the MEC, someone had called the complaints hotline and tipped officials off about the price hikes.
Customers at the shop were not afraid to air their complaints, saying they were being made to pay an additional R20 - R40 per kilogram on meat products.
The government has warned it would enforce a zero-tolerance policy against price hikes.