Good morning my fellow South Africans! I apologize in advance for the long post, but please, is there a lawyer or someone from the CCMA or something that can give me insight in how I can help these abused people. This is exploitation of the financially vulnerable in my view. I have a frustrating and sad request, but I'm hopeful we can find a solution. The story, 4 years ago, summarized: I'm in a local supermarket but I'm sure they all do it. The guy in front of me asks for R1000 electricity. The cashier checks the address, etc. and rings it up. The guy says he doesn't have the money and leaves. Just like that. Happens real fast. I ask the lady, "Will you have to pay that now?" She can't give me an answer, which I know means, "yes". I call the manager. I press the issue that she didn't do anything wrong. They say they will try to find the guy. I take the cashier's number. I talk to the manager again the next week. They tried to find the guy and can't find him at the address. The unstated truth is clear: In cases like this, it comes off the cashier's salary. I, as respectfully as possible, threaten them that if they take the girl's money, I will be there with the local newspaper and they will have a PR nightmare up to their eyeballs to deal with. I drive out of my way weekly for 6 weeks to stick my head into the manager's office and happily greet them. I loudly greet the cashier each time I see her. The girl leaves for a new job, eventually. I get a WhatsApp from her. She is 100% sure they would have taken her money if no-one intervened. The situation on the table now: This last Thursday, I see a cashier walking down the street, trying to find a house. They asked for R150 electricity, but didn't pay, hoping to pay with e-bucks. I take her number and tell her that I will help her find the guy and get the money, or I will pay it. Eventually, the guy pays. She tells me that she made a mistake a few months ago, punching in R5000 instead of R500. The manager handed the customer the slip by accident and the customer used the electricity. The customer comes in almost daily and says they can't pay because of personal reasons. They take R500 a month off the cashier's salary for the better part of a year to pay the R5000. She still owes R3500. She is a single mom and we all know she earns near minimum wage. The CCMA tells me that if she signs a letter of acknowledgment of debt, then she is liable to pay it. I don't know if she did. I must ask her again if she signed something, but that doesn't change the fact that most cashiers will sign because they need the job to survive. I see some potential solutions: Customers must pay BEFORE electricity is punched-in. One must be able to go to municipality or whatever to reverse the transaction. They say they can't, but I call BS. They can. They have no incentive to. The customer must be found. The above is the SUPERMARKET'S responsibility, not the CASHIER'S. The buck CANNOT stop at the cashier. The supermarket makes the profit, so surely they must carry the business risk. They can even negotiate with the customer to offer the electricity at a discount, reducing the loss. But they have no incentive to do so, given that they just take the money from the cashier and their books balance. Surely when a customer takes the electricity and uses it, they are then liable to pay for it. Please, what can I do to help? And how can WE make sure this doesn't happen more? I could just go speak to the supermarket (again) and get them to give the money back to the cashier, but they are just going to do it again!   submitted by   /u/decisiveExplorer03 [link]   [comments]