A Cape Town supermarket has responded to a viral TikTok video that accused it of banning a shopper for buying groceries for a mother and child.
Kloof Street KwikSPAR has denied the claim, saying the incident stemmed from concerns about alleged repeat offenders who solicit purchases from customers and later return items for cash.
The controversy stems from a video posted by Cape Town content creator Zoe Robb in April, in which she alleged that she was confronted by store staff after offering to buy groceries for a woman and her child outside the supermarket.
The video quickly gained traction on social media, with many viewers criticising the store's actions and praising Robb for attempting to help a family she believed was in need.
The supermarket said Robb was never banned and that staff were instead dealing with what management describes as a "plague" of repeat offenders who allegedly ask shoppers to buy goods before returning them for cash.
The video, which has been widely shared on social media, shows Robb recounting how she met a woman and her daughter at a traffic light before offering to help them with food.
Robb said she offered to buy them a meal, but when the woman mentioned that she would rather get groceries, she suggested they visit the 24-hour KwikSPAR on Kloof Street.
However, Robb said that when they were inside the supermarket, a security guard approached them and repeatedly asked whether the woman was bothering her.
The situation allegedly escalated at the tills after her bank card initially declined.
She claimed a manager then intervened and informed her that she could not continue with the purchase, because they had a Rights of Admission policy in place.
Robb said, “I’m banned from buying someone groceries. I can’t go to a shop because I bought someone groceries.”
However, store manager Dylan Brown insists Robb was never banned from the store.
He explained: “They ask customers to buy them something, and later, when the customer leaves the store and hands over the goods, they come back to the store with the slip and demand a refund of cash for the goods.
“It was a plague in our store. I promise you, it happens so often.”
According to Brown, the woman who accompanied Robb had allegedly been involved in similar incidents before and had been flagged on the store's facial recognition system.