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- A shopper will appear in court after she was captured on video, pointing a firearm at EFF members inside a mall.
- Her 7.65 licensed pistol has been confiscated by the Walmer Park police.
- She was charged on Wednesday afternoon.
The 52-year-old Port Elizabeth woman filmed pointing a gun at a group of EFF members inside a mall on Tuesday has been charged and has to appear in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate's Court.
Port Elizabeth police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu confirmed the latest to News24.
Naidu said the woman was formally charged on Wednesday afternoon for pointing a firearm and released on a warning, pending her court appearance on Thursday.
MUST WATCH | Shopper pulls a gun on protesting EFF members
Naidu said her 7.65 pistol was confiscated by police.
A video of the incident is doing the rounds on social media, showing the woman being escorted by four mall security guards away from a group of about four yelling EFF members.
Shutdown
The 10:30 shouting match started outside a Clicks store, where EFF members converged as part of a countrywide shutdown of the health and beauty retailer in response to an offensive advert.
EFF Eastern Cape provincial chairperson and MPL Yazini Tetyana previously said of the incident that the party "enjoys irritating white people".
He said the clash was a demonstration that white people are irritated by the EFF, and that the party likes that.
The case was opened at 15:00 on Tuesday, hours after the EFF members and the woman were released from police custody after both parties initially declined to lay criminal charges against each other.
READ | Clicks protests: EFF MP among 10 arrested for destruction of property
They were detained at the mall earlier that morning.
Walmer Shopping Centre centre manager Leonie Scheepers said the incident broke out after the woman started filming a gathering of the EFF.
In the footage captured by a shopper, one of EFF supporters can be heard yelling "you f------ b----, go back to Europe'."
A person dressed in blue then seemingly tried to grab the woman's arm.
She then stopped in the middle of the foyer and pulled out a firearm from her jacket and pointed it at the EFF members.
The EFF members reacted by shouting, "shoot, shoot".
She put the gun away and continued to walk out of the mall.
The protests come as Clicks is battling a massive public backlash over a TRESemme hair product advert, and published by Clicks.
The advert described two pictures of a black woman's hair as "dry and damaged" and "frizzy and dull", while two pictures showing a white woman's hair was described as "fine and flat" and "normal".
Clicks apologised for the incident following the outcry on social media, sparking the nationwide protests by the EFF.
