South Africans in the grip of Black Friday fever [videos]

If you are reading this, you probably survived Black Friday. Now you can sit back and enjoy some of the gems we found on Twitter. You’re welcome.

Black Friday Fever 2019

It was madness when Shoprite in Sunnyside, Pretoria opened their doors this morning. People slipping and falling, staff trying desperately to control the masses and a baby crying in the background.

It prompted another netizen, Lubabalo, to ask why people take children on Black Friday shopping sprees. A user known only as Resolute Construction concurred:

“A very dangerous environment for a child… I guess her excuse will be that she had no one to help babysit… Be that as it may… It’s still not safe”.

You would think it couldn’t get any worse than that, but you would be wrong. This footage was shared by AirtimeData on Twitter, shared on behalf of a friend who recorded it.

One netizen dryly remarked that the crazed shoppers “seem decent enough”, while another simply responded with ‘sick face’ emoji.

Early morning shopping

Shoppers were queuing from the early morning hours. A short clip shared by Eyewitness News shows the queue outside Game in Mall of Africa mere minutes before the store opened at midnight.

#BlackFridaySA The queue outside Game in Mall of Africa. 5 minutes to opening. CE pic.twitter.com/XxB0bTRWQm

— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) November 28, 2019

TVs for the win

And the Black Friday queues really were something else, hey… Lwandile Bhengu shared footage from Game in Gateway mall with the caption: “TVs seems to be the hot ticket.”

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Then, of course, there’s Zara at East Gate. Even though it was as terrible as the stampedes at Shoprite and Game, @CliveKman remarked that the store was “turned into Studio 88”.

Game at Canal Walk was no different. Courtney Deon Africa, the regional content manager at African News Agency, shared a short video clipped; that store is packed.

The previous poster was right; TV sets are the real winner today.

Manxele took to Twitter with footage of shoppers rushing into Checkers on Black Friday to buy TV sets. The caption reads:

“We need to thank Apartheid Police, though your mom/dad is coming with a 55-inch tv because of them.”

We’re not sure where this footage was taken, but it looks brutal. Shoppers themselves weren’t safe from being crushed; that stack of shopping baskets never stood a chance.

As we reflect on Black Friday at the end a long day, one of the lessons we can take away from this year’s experience is that Game employees deserve a pat on the back.

If any of your loved ones work at Game, be nice to them tonight. Run them a bath, massage their feet, make dinner, buy them a spa voucher. They’re going to need it.