Police removed three people from Walmer Park Shopping Centre in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday morning after an argument that saw a 52-year-old woman pull out a gun and point it at protesters outside the Clicks store.

The protest was part of the EFF's nationwide campaign to shut the retailer’s outlets as anger mounted over a racially charged advertisement the company had placed on its website.

The hair-care advert described the hair of two African women as “dry, damaged, frizzy and dull” while describing two white women’s hair as “colour-treated, fine, flat and normal”.

The argument in Port Elizabeth was caught on video by a shopper who did not want to be named, reports HeraldLIVE.

When the video starts, a small group of protesters, a grey-haired woman and her elderly shopping companion are seen with four security guards standing between them.

It is not clear what started the initial altercation but as tempers flare, a woman can be heard shouting: “Go back to Europe.”

The grey-haired woman’s voice is indistinct, but after she says something to the protesters a woman can be heard shouting: “Take out your gun, take out your gun.”

The grey-haired woman promptly pulls a gun out of her pink body-warmer and points it directly at the protesters before being hustled off by security guards while a man and a woman are heard saying: “Shoot, shoot.”

The three people were removed from the parking lot at the centre after a further argument erupted.

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Police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said: “Walmer police responded to a complaint at Clicks Walmer Park.

“It appeared a 52-year-old female was involved in an altercation with EFF supporters at the entrance to the Clicks store.

“Police subsequently removed the individuals involved in the altercation and transported them to Walmer police station. The parties all declined to lay charges.

“No arrests were made and no cases are being investigated in the absence of complaints.”  

Earlier on Tuesday, Clicks attained an order preventing the EFF and its members from disrupting operations.

The order follows an application by Clicks after damage to some of its stores by EFF members unhappy about the hair product advertisement, which they deemed as demeaning to black people.

Clicks said on Monday that protests by the EFF had been held at 37 stores in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Western Cape. Seven stores were damaged.

Protests have also taken place in Port Elizabeth, but no damage has occurred.

The high court in Johannesburg on Tuesday issued an order in which it interdicted and restrained the EFF and those acting on its instructions from intimidating and threatening the employees of Clicks or any of its operations.

The order also interdicted the party from inciting violence against the ordinary commercial operations of Clicks.

HeraldLIVE