News of a naked man who was found hiding beneath the shelves at a clothing store ran like wildfire throughout the Shoprite Taxi Rank in Makhado last Friday.

Soon there was a large crowd of curious onlookers who came and gathered outside the entrance to the Check-U Hawker Centre.

They waited anxiously for the closed doors to be flung open from the inside, so that they could storm inside and start searching for the naked thief. “We'll beat him to death,” some were heard saying.

The store operators remained behind the closed doors and only allowed tsome of their workers to slip inside quickly. “Why do you protect him?” shouted a man and more voices joined in the chorus. “Let the thief walk out. He must get a lesson that will teach him not to steal again,” another shouted and those around agreed with her statement.

Even though the alleged thief was still held captive inside the store for his own safety, pictures of a stark naked man, alleged to be the thief, were doing rounds from one cell phone to the other through Bluetooth and MMS service, so that even people who were far away in the villages at that time started receiving such images.

When the store finally opened its doors, people flooded the store and started searching for the thief inside the offices, storerooms and toilet. They were left disappointed when they couldn't find him.

It later appeared that the store operators had let the alleged thief escape through the back door. “You wanted to kill him?” a store manager asked after an enquiry by the journalist. “We felt that we had to protect him, but next time he might not be that lucky if he continues with his habit.”

On Fridays, a large number of the businesses in Makhado close at around 12:30 in preparation for prayer at the mosque. Thieves seize this opportunity by entering into businesses shortly before they close. They hide under the shelves and when everyone has left, they go for the tills. They later exit the building, using a back door.

Check-U's supervisor, Khathu Nemandivhe, said that it was not the first time that a thief had entered the store. “Some three weeks ago, a thief entered the store and stole a large amount of money from the safe,” Nemandivhe said.

He added that Check-U was in possession of a video clip in which the alleged thief could be seen naked and crawling along the floor into the office which houses a safe. In the clip, the thief later waited for the shop to open again, and then mixed with the buyers and exited the store like any other customer.

“We want to warn all other thieves that they mustn't come and play in our stores,” he said. “Check-U is one of the biggest employers in this town, with a lot of employees who depend on Check-U to maintain their families, and everybody should respect that.”

The store's management added that they had decided not to lay any criminal charges against the thief, because they hoped that he had learned his lesson.