As budgets shrink and the festive season approaches, Cape Town shoppers sacrificed sleep and even skipped work to get their hands on discounted items.
Black Friday is a retail tradition that began in the US, with shops offering discounts the day after Thanksgiving - but since being introduced, South Africa now tops the global list of countries for the most online searches for deals.
The frenzy was evident in the gridlock traffic that gripped most of Cape Town’s CBD, including extreme congestion on main routes into the city and high traffic volumes at the usual off-peak times of day.
With some shops opening their doors at midnight, such as Game in Canal Walk, crowds of determined shoppers even queued outside to be the first in the door when the sale kicked off, cuing the usual scrum of frantic people squabbling over high ticket items such as televisions.