Cape Town - The grandmother who was harassed and humiliated over a broken slab of chocolate at a Pick n Pay store last week has spoken out for the first time since the incident, saying her grandson still wakes up in the night “scared that I will be taken to jail and he will be taken away”.
The incident last weekend went viral on social media, with people posting and sharing a photograph of the crying grandmother sitting on the floor, holding her grandson, who was also in tears, in her arms.
The family has since accepted an apology from Pick n Pay, a R500 grocery voucher and counselling from the retailer.
But a distraught and traumatised Iris Beukes, 59, said on Friday she was still “jittery and fearful” after the incident.
She was shopping at Pick n Pay in Town Centre, Mitchells Plain, last Saturday when her grandson Tylan broke a wrapped 150g Cadbury chocolate slab into pieces. A security guard and floor manager then allegedly demanded she pay for the broken chocolate.
“I told them I didn’t have enough money for the chocolate but they threatened me with jail,” Beukes said.
When she was threatened with jail, the diabetic woman collapsed to the floor.
“When I awoke (Tylan) was holding on to me crying because he was scared that I would be taken to jail and he would be taken away.”
Beukes, a factory worker in Woodstock, said she and the child were still shaken and scared.
“He wakes up at night crying and shaking asking me if the police will come and arrest me.
“I regret taking him with me to the shops now and I am also still scared of going out there because of what happened,” she said.
Beukes is raising her 13-year-old daughter and grandson on her “minimum wage I make from the factory, but I always try and do my best to provide all I can for them”.
“When I can, I do buy a big slab that we share together at home.”
Still in tears on Friday, Beukes confirmed she had accepted an apology and grocery voucher from Pick n Pay.
“They came to my work place and offered me counselling and a R500 voucher with the apology.
“But I now wonder if R500 is worth the entire trauma they caused us. I accepted it because I want this whole thing to be over,” she said.
Store manager Ishmail Mosagee confirmed the retailer had approached the family, but had not been able to meet Beukes in person.
“The lady asked to be left alone, but we have reached out to her because she also wants to meet so this whole thing can be put to bed,” he said.
Mosagee also claimed the picture that went viral on social media had been “staged”.
“The woman was screaming, fell to the floor on her own and someone put the boy on her lap,” he said.
Western Cape Pick n Pay general manager Jarett van Vuuren said: “Pick n Pay met with our customer and she is satisfied that the situation has now been resolved.
“We are happy that she will shop again in our store. We have apologised sincerely to her and believe that this incident could have been handled better by our franchisee.
“Our policy on breakages depends on the situation involved.”
Weekend Argus
* Use IOL’s Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.