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Makro is expected to introduce additional security measures at their stores after a shirtless man caused a commotion at the Crown Mines branch over the weekend.
An eyewitness told News24 that the man had a broken bottle in his hand and threatened to stab people.
"He even cut himself… he slit his chest and stomach open," Clint Brink, who entered the store at roughly 10:00 on Sunday, said.
The shirtless man then climbed into the rafters of the store and set a box alight.
Brink said the man repeatedly asked people to phone his brother because someone outside was apparently "trying to kill him".
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Andrew Stein, Makro's marketing and ecommerce director, commented: "As a consequence of this incident, Makro stores will be introducing additional security measures to prevent this type of incident from occurring again, ensuring that all security officials undergo thorough training."
According to Stein, police were immediately contacted and, together with store security, were able to keep all customers safe while the store was evacuated.
"Security tried by all means to negotiate with the man, urging him to climb down to ensure his own safety."
'It was business as usual'
But Brink told News24 that security didn't really do much to contain the situation and more than an hour later, people still hadn't been evacuated from the store.
"I was there for about an hour before management finally started to close the doors. It was business as usual," Brink said.
When it looked like the man was about to lose his footing and fall, he and his 16-year-old son left.
"I didn't want to expose my son to that."
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He conceded that the store could have been evacuated after he left.
"But for the hour I was there, there was no evacuation."
Stein said the man set a box alight before throwing it on the floor.
"Security ensured that the fire was quickly extinguished. The individual was eventually taken down the rafters and arrested by police," Stein said.
