Update
GEORGE NEWS - If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is the entire novel.
In the case of the brawl at the Garden Route Mall on Thursday afternoon, it turns out to be a captivating “who done it?”.
Mall manager Rion Olivier confirmed this morning that the unpleasant incident was indeed captured on their closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) from beginning to end.
“We have the complete footage of what happened before the incident, including the actions of both the woman and the guard. We are waiting for the police to collect it,” he told George Herald.
This is excellent news for the investigating officer, as a bystander’s cellphone video of the fight that has gone viral, only starts well into the altercation.
Details of the exact cause of the incident are sketchy, but it is clear that it was sparked by the fact that, in contravention of the mall's Covid-19 regulations, the woman in question was not wearing a mask. Things got out of hand when the guard asked her to put one on. A scuffle ensued and the fracas comes to an end when other guards and bystanders intervene shortly after the woman’s fiancé tackles the guard.
The guard has pressed charges and the police are investigating charges of assault.
Southern Cape police spokesperson Captain Malcolm Pojie said the investigating officer will be collecting the CCTV footage on Monday.
The woman has shared her version of events with George Herald claiming the guard had hit her, but this has been contradicted by at least two eyewitness reports.
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