Woman With Albinism Narrates How Pick n Pay Denied Her Entry

A Masvingo woman, Agness Gurunhe has narrated how TM Pick n Pay management blocked her from entering the shop because she had refused to be sanitised by the sanitiser the retail shop was using.

The 35-year-old explained to the management that she reacts badly to the sanitiser and offered to have water and soap as an alternative but the management could not have it. She narrated:

I politely asked that I be given water and soap to wash my hands because my skin seriously reacts to sanitisers but the people manning the entrance said there was no water at the shop and they then denied me entry.

I then requested to see the manager and they brought a man whom I assumed to be the manager. The man said it’s either I get my hands sanitised or I could not enter.

After some talk, they then said I could list down the grocery items I wanted to purchase so that a staff member would do it for me while I waited outside.

Buy Samsung, itel, Redmi smartphones in Zimbabwe

WhatsApp: +263715068543

I considered that to be unreasonable because that would mean that I give them my bank card and my secret PIN.

She posted her ordeal on WhatsApp and many expressed their anger. Meanwhile, Disability Amalgamation Community Trust (DACT) chairperson Henry Chavhanga described the incident as “an outrageous act of discrimination” adding that TM Pick n’ Pay “must be held responsible for that.”

Sanitising and or washing of hands are some of the ways which the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended as strategies to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Businesses have since the outbreak of the pandemic been sanitising customers and checking their temperatures before they get into the shops.

More: New Zimbabwe