A video of a woman threatening to smack another customer in a Clicks store has gone viral over the last 24 hours, after the fierce altercation raised some serious questions in the social media community.

After a brief exchange with an employee, the wound-up shopper notices that someone else is laughing at her. She quickly turns her attention to the unsuspecting customer, before delivering more verbal abuse her way.

Clicks verbal abuse video

She repeatedly asks the stranger to explain what she finds funny, before threatening to give her a “f****** backhand” if she carries on. That’s followed by the lines “shut up”, “I’ll smack you” and “mind your own business.

What has really inflamed tempers – at both the store and online – is the fact that the woman says “this is why Julius must take the land” while arguing with her white counterpart. She was making reference to the repeated promises Julius Malema and the EFF have made to occupy vacant land in South Africa, which has become a deeply divisive issue. Some users framed the coming together as a “racist” attack, but others aren’t so sure:

what was the context….all i heard was a person angry, swearing at another one…maybe I’m deaf, did not hear racist. much…uncouth, definately. — potevan (@potevan1) January 23, 2019

Racism is a malaise in South Africa and whoever is infested should be subjected to harsh treatment by the appropriate law of the land. If one desires peaceful coexistence racism is not the way to go about it. — Gangarila Makana (@MphoraNkomo) January 24, 2019

“Julius must take back the land video” goes viral

The woman on the end of the abuse seems to have taken it all in her stride, and doesn’t look like she was intimidated by the furious confrontation. We reached out to Clicks, who confirmed they were aware of the incident but remained tight-lipped for the time being:

“We are aware of the video and can confirm that an altercation took place between two customers at a Clicks store. We are busy investigating the matter and an updated statement will be issued soon.”

The video eventually peters out without any physical violence being carried out. Thankfully, this came to a relatively peaceful conclusion considering how quickly it all escalated. Sjoe, Julius has touched everyone’s studio.

Watch the Clicks stand-off here:

(Views of the uploader do not reflect those of thesouthafrican.com)