In a widely shared video, a man with dreadlocks is seen slide tackling an alleged thief who is making a run for the exit of a grocery store after stealing a phone from a customer inside.
The hero who saved the day is Ronnie M, an employee of Spar in Parow, Cape Town.
“I was standing by the trolley bay and I was about to go home because it was around 5pm,” said Ronnie.
“Suddenly I heard someone shouting, ‘Thief! Thief! Thief!’ So as I turned around, and I just have that feeling of saying, 'OK, this guy is coming my direction and he does not see me, so I need to make some action.' So we did some action to the guy.”
Ronnie's impressive outstretched foot caught the alleged thief off-guard and brought him crashing down, sliding into a wall before being stopped at the exit and brought back inside the store.
The police were called and the man was apprehended. Though the video was only released yesterday (Wednesday) by Ronnie, the incident took place in October 2022.
People commenting online have said the actions resemble Manchester United’s goalkeeper David de Gea, with some calling for Kaizer Chiefs to give him a contract. But Ronnie says he would rather be called Virgil van Dyk, the Liverpool defender.
“Football is my life I love football. I used to play football, and I play with these youngsters. I always focus on the young guys. So football is my life, and I also support Liverpool so, ‘You Never Walk Alone’,” he said.
WATCH | ‘Rasta’ slide tackles alleged thief, video goes viral
In a widely shared video, a man with dreadlocks is seen slide tackling an alleged thief who is making a run for the exit of a grocery store after stealing a phone from a customer inside.
The hero who saved the day is Ronnie M, an employee of Spar in Parow, Cape Town.
“I was standing by the trolley bay and I was about to go home because it was around 5pm,” said Ronnie.
“Suddenly I heard someone shouting, ‘Thief! Thief! Thief!’ So as I turned around, and I just have that feeling of saying, 'OK, this guy is coming my direction and he does not see me, so I need to make some action.' So we did some action to the guy.”
Ronnie's impressive outstretched foot caught the alleged thief off-guard and brought him crashing down, sliding into a wall before being stopped at the exit and brought back inside the store.
The police were called and the man was apprehended. Though the video was only released yesterday (Wednesday) by Ronnie, the incident took place in October 2022.
People commenting online have said the actions resemble Manchester United’s goalkeeper David de Gea, with some calling for Kaizer Chiefs to give him a contract. But Ronnie says he would rather be called Virgil van Dyk, the Liverpool defender.
“Football is my life I love football. I used to play football, and I play with these youngsters. I always focus on the young guys. So football is my life, and I also support Liverpool so, ‘You Never Walk Alone’,” he said.
Image: Supplied
Ronnie lives in Delft and says he has been working at Spar for about 15 years. He received a R500 reward for his actions on that day.
Ronnie asked a friend to post the CCTV video of the event on Wednesday, as he “wanted to put positive vibes out there”.
He was blown away by the number of views it has received, stating the clip had more than 1-million views on TikTok alone.
“I wanted to see people were doing good things, and it’s not just all killing and robbing going on. I also wanted to show that the guy got caught which is good for our customers,” he said.
On social media Ronnie is referred to as ‘Rasta’ due to his deadlocks, but when asked if he minds being called a Rasta, he said definitely not.
“I am a rastaman, and as Rastas we always want to protect our community.”
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