With one of its shops set on fire in Johannesburg on Monday, South African health and beauty firm Clicks is under fire from the opposition Economic Freedom Front over a “racist” advert it has since taken down.
Clicks chain store incurred the wrath of the party and ordinary South Africans following a controversial online advert which compared the “dry and damaged” hair of black women to the “smooth and normal” hair of white women.
South Africans, especially black women, were angered by the portrayal, with EFF officials describing the advert as an outrage from the country’s racism past of apartheid misrule.
The EFF demanded the shutdown of all Clicks shops nationwide as it appealed to “progressive forces” to take matters into their own hands over the incident.
In addition, the militant EFF demanded that all those involved in making the offending advert be dismissed with immediate effect and their names made public. These include Clicks managers, directors and employees.
So far the chain store has suspended only two employees, a far cry from the opposition party’s demands which has started chain-locking some shops on its own and staging protests nationwide.
EFF spokesperson Delisile Ngwenya said: “The transgression that Clicks has made goes far beyond a simple advert. It is part of a long history of making the features of black people abnormal and insufficient and uncivilised.
“Clicks must therefore be regarded as having committed a human rights violation because their advert is a perpetuation of the violence of colonialism and racism.”
“All progressive forces must embark on direct action to ensure Clicks is held accountable,” Ngwenya added.
Clicks group chief executive Vikesh Ramsunder admitted that what his company did was “disappointing”, saying that transformation remained a priority for his cosmetics products company.
“I am deeply disappointed. I couldn’t believe this happened within our organisation because until Thursday (when the ad was floated), I thought we were heading in the right direction around transformation,” Ramsunder said.
While firemen managed to extinguish the fire at the Clicks shop in Johannesburg, EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu told Clicks’ lawyers – who threatened a lawsuit for the attack on the shops – that no court order would stop the party from protesting against racism at the shops.
NM/jn/APA