Photo: Yusuf Abramjee
Photo: Yusuf Abramjee
Keeping it in the family really shouldn’t apply to acts of criminality, but footage shared online this week shows the moment when a brazen group of relatives decided to pick up their ‘four-finger discounts’ – by involving a child in their masterplan. The CCTV clip is taken from a Pick N Pay Express store and it has been viewed thousands of times online.
The minute-long video shows family members, positioned in different points of the store, helping themselves to goods from the shelves. Items are stuffed into pockets, and concealed in clothing. The group then congregates to compare what they’ve found during the haul as some products fall to the floor.
The child in particular struggles to juggle the smuggled items. It’s not clear just how successful this mission to raid the local Pick N Pay was, but with their new-found social media fame, there won’t be many places left for the tight-knit thieves to hide. As you can see in the video below, one of the shoplifters seems pleased as punch with their illicit booty.
WATCH these shoplifters – it’s a family affair! #CrimeWatch pic.twitter.com/SmX7vfgDXQ
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) May 25, 2021
We are still waiting on an official update from law enforcement authorities on this matter: The video has sparked something of a debate online. Whereas many viewers are scathing about the level of criminality on show – and the involvement of a youngster – others express genuine sympathy for a family that *might* be facing financial hardships.
I hope they caught each & everyone of them & put them where they belong! How do parents take a youngster into a convenience store & show him how do steal? Hope there were caught.
— Mike Noll (@MikeNoll7) May 25, 2021
Involving a child into a criminal activity should be a sentence on it's own
— DK (@DikelediMirriam) May 25, 2021
Not that I’m condoning this behavior but it shows how tough things are in SA.
— Nhlangano (@nhlangano291) May 25, 2021
People r hungry..
— #RIPKOBE (@Sphazizi) May 25, 2021