Rapper Maraza involved in alleged racial profiling incident

The rapper and those accompanying him were reportedly detained for about 10 minutes while the store manager "verified" their purchase.

By  | Dec 06, 2018, 01:43 AM

Rapper Maraza involved in alleged racial profiling incident

The rapper took to social media (as one does) these days after he and his entourage were detained in the Killarney Mall Pick n Pay last night while the manager "verified" that they had bought goods worth over R8000 without stealing anything. 

In a series of Facebook videos, the rapper (real name Siphamandla Mhlongo) recorded the entire incident which included his chat with security personnel while other shoppers were allowed to leave after the security guards glanced at their till slips. 

"So as you can see, Pick n Pay Killarney, we're made to wait inside for about 10 minutes while they verify... nothing. In the end, four white people passed with their trolley full of goods [and] no one was asked anything beyond seeing a receipt. Yet we waited inside thina and in the end, he comes back and says 'you're free to go.' No ID, nothing. What verification was being made? That some poor white person from Killarney was going to come running and say "this boy bought with my card"? Hayi nis'thatha kancani" he said in the rant.

Visibly and justifiably angry, he later continued the rant in his car explaining what happened in detail. Watch it here: 

Killarney Mall responded to the rapper a few hours ago to say that "PNP & Killarney Mall are investigating" and "are liaising with their HO" (head office) and that Maraz should expect feedback. There was no attempt made to apologize for the inconvenience caused thus far.

We also reached out to Pick n Pay and they said (via a spokesman)

“We apologise for any inconvenience experienced by Maraza and have tried to contact him directly. Our Pick n Pay Killarney branch has experienced a number of problematic card transactions, particularly at closing time. The store put random checks in place, and this was one of them. Customers were not profiled and  the security officer on duty did not ask to check MarazA’s groceries. Only the card transaction itself was verified. We value and appreciate Maraza as our customer at Killarney and are sorry if the reasons for the random check were not communicated better.”

We have yet to receive a response from Maraza and his team with regards to what has happened thus far but we will keep you all posted as the story develops.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Let us know via social media @ZAlebs

Main image credit: instagram.com/marazamc