A popular bicycle shop on Long Street in Cape Town has shared a video of festival-goers looting their shop in the early hours of Monday.

“We’re so optimistic about South Africa. We’ve had opportunities to open elsewhere, but we’ve always stayed firm that this is where we need to be. It’s just too bad amongst all the great people we have here, there’s a bunch of worthless oxygen thieves that ruin it for the good folks out there. We’ll remain optimistic and we’ll rebuild. Thanks for all the support,” Rook Cycles posted on their Facebook page, along with CCTV footage of the incident.

According to the video's timestamp, the incident occurred on Monday at 5.02am.

The footage shows that there are many people on the street outside the shop. Thieves come in through the window before others join in pillaging the shop, stealing two bicycles as well as cycling accessories.

The annual Festive Lights Switch-On, which kicks off the festive season in the Mother City, saw thousands converge on the CBD.

In a sarcastic comment on their Facebook post, Rook Cycles blamed city officials: “Oh, and thanks Cape Town City for the heads up on the tens of thousands of drunk/drugged idiots you invited to your ‘turning on the lights’ festival.”

The Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID) tweeted: “Due to the high volumes of people attending the Festival of Lights switch on, all agencies were overwhelmed. In this case, the CCID were the first respondents and managed to arrest 6 suspects and recover 4 bicycles.”