Clicks in Eikestad Mall in Stellenbosch was closed on 7 September and 8 September, after nationwide protests by members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) aimed at the pharmaceutical group.
The protests followed the recent release of a controversial TRESemmé hair advertisement on Clicks’ website. All Clicks stores would also be closed on 9 September according to a media statement issued on behalf of the Clicks Group, that was sent out on 8 September.
While a number of members of the EFF also protested outside of Clicks in Eikestad Mall on 7 September, Tim Flack, the public relations officer for the Stellenbosch Community Policing Forum, said that Stellenbosch SAPS, law enforcement, and private security companies worked together to ensure that the protest remained peaceful.
Flack pointed out that Covid-19 has had a massive impact on businesses and the livelihoods of citizens. He said people needed to survive, and therefore stopping local businesses from operating, could not be tolerated.
The advertisement, which led to a number of protests across the country, depicted a black woman’s hair being labelled dry and damaged, while a white woman’s hair was depicted as being fine and flat, Nosipho Makamba-Botya, deputy chairperson of the EFF in the Western Cape, told MatieMedia.
“[The] EFF wants to send a strong message that we can no longer tolerate racism and elements of colonialism in our space,” said Makamba-Botya.
The EFF has also demanded that the pharmaceutical group publishes the commission that authorised the racial advert, she said.
According to Lucinda Horsband, councillor for the EFF Stellenbosch Municipality, the EFF wants Clicks branches to close so that the company can feel the damage that the advertisement inflicted on people of colour.
“We are champions of non-racial things. There’s no way that we will fold our hands and let these things happen in front of us,” she said.
According to the media statement released on 8 September, the Clicks Group would prioritise their diversity and inclusion training programme for head office staff.
“Apart from suspending all employees involved in publishing the recent offensive advertisement, Clicks has accepted the resignation of the senior executive responsible,” the company said in its media statement.