“Worried About a Toilet Roll”: Cape Town Employee Accused of Stealing Toilet Paper Wins Big Payout

• A Cape Town man who worked at a packaging company for 13 years was fired after security found a toilet roll in his bag
• The employee claimed he brought the toilet paper from home, but the company said theirs was unique
• The Labour Court ruled the dismissal was unfair and ordered the company to pay him R120,000 in back pay

A Cape Town man has won a major victory after being fired for allegedly stealing a single roll of toilet paper from his workplace. TikToker @hamzeh.majiet posted a video on 22 January 2026 discussing the story. In the clip, he explained that Theodore April was fired from Mpact, where he had worked for almost 13 years, after security caught him with a toilet roll in his bag. However, April claimed that this wasn't the company's property and that he brought the toilet roll from home.

The company argued that the toilet paper they use is unique and cannot be bought in retail stores. After an internal investigation, April was dismissed. But the Cape Town Labour Court has now ruled that the dismissal was unfair and ordered the company to back pay him R120,000. The court found that there wasn't sufficient evidence, there were no photographs of the toilet roll, and security even let him leave the premises with it.

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What happened in the investigation?

The case dates back to October 2022, when security searched April's bag following a tip-off as he was leaving after a shift.

The acting Labour Court Judge M Mkhatshwa found the case weak, pointing out that not only did security let the employee leave in October after finding the roll in his bag, but they also didn't take pictures of the type of roll used by the company on the same day. The judge also questioned why pictures comparing the roll in the bag and the toilet rolls in use at the same time were not taken on the day his bag was searched.

Watch the TikTok clip below:

Mzansi shares their disappointment

Netizens shared how they felt about the incident on TikTok user @hamzeh.majiet's video:

@Gisele 🇿🇦🇳🇱 said:

"People are literally stealing BILLIONS in government, but they get zero consequences."

@Princess commented:

"Worried about losing a toilet roll only to pay out R120k 😭 Sleepless nights."

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@BaldEagle shared:

"I hope they appeal the decision. If an employee steals and is dishonest, he is a major liability. Of course, his past work record needs to be considered in line with the law."

@hardcorefacts added:

"Show us the evidence he stole the company property, no evidence, no case, please understand! You cannot convict someone of theft without evidence!"

@Sonic Rain(Herman&Prosper) joked:

"That's a crappy thing to have happened."

@Mimie stated:

"If you have a job, there's no need to steal from the hand that feeds you."

More people losing jobs in SA

• Briefly News recently reported on a young South African woman who hopped on a viral TikTok trend to expose her colleagues for getting her fired.
• A South African lady got vulnerable online and shared her story of starting from scratch at the age of 30, and her raw footage inspired many people.
• A woman on TikTok shared her concerns about the debilitating unemployment crisis in South Africa, detailing her struggles with finding a job for over 20 years.

Source: Briefly News