{"id":1737,"date":"2020-09-07T10:00:53","date_gmt":"2020-09-07T08:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=431750"},"modified":"2020-09-07T10:00:53","modified_gmt":"2020-09-07T08:00:53","slug":"watch-eff-moves-to-shut-down-clicks-stores-across-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interwebdev.co.za\/index.php\/2020\/09\/07\/watch-eff-moves-to-shut-down-clicks-stores-across-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch: EFF moves to shut down Clicks stores across South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on Monday (7 August), moved to close pharmaceutical retailer, Clicks stores across the country as part of a campaign against racially insensitive<\/span> advert shown on the retailer\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

The advert included pictures of four women \u2013 two black and two white \u2013 and described the hair of the two black women as \u2018dry and damaged; and \u2018frizzy and dull\u2019, while the images depicting the white women\u2019s hair were described as \u2018fine and flat hair\u2019 and \u2018normal hair\u2019.<\/p>\n

The EFF said that the advert undermined the dignity of black South Africans and suggested that the \u2018hair of black people is damaged and inferior to that of white people\u2019.<\/p>\n

Clicks, apologised for the campaign, calling it a mistake. As of April 2020, group data showed that Clicks has 881 total retail stores across the country, employing 15,347 people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have made a mistake and sincerely apologise for letting you down. We recognise we have a role to play in creating a more diverse and inclusive S.A, starting with our website content. We know we need to do better, and commit to ensuring our content better reflects this value,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

And in a statement on Sunday evening, Clicks said that it planned to trade as normal on Monday despite the EFF\u2019s attempt to close stores.<\/p>\n

\u201cClicks provides a much-needed healthcare service to South Africans and stores will not be closed. Contingency plans have been put in place to ensure the safety of both customers and staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cClicks has taken full accountability and apologised unreservedly for the advertisement published on its website and has taken immediate action to address all concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pictures posted by the EFF\u2019s official social media accounts show members protesting inside and outside of Clicks stores across the country.<\/p>\n

\n

Secretary-General @DlaminiMarshall<\/a> is outside the Clicks at the Mall of Africa, Midrand.<\/p>\n

We will not permit the unrepentant and perverse racism of Clicks to go on in South Africa. #clicksmustfall<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/7W3beffauA<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) September 7, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

CIC @Julius_S_Malema<\/a> is outside Clicks at the Mall of the North, Polokwane with the Provincial leadership, fighters and ground forces.<\/p>\n

The only way to make capitalists apologize and feel genuine remorse is for them to lose money. #ClicksMustFall<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/sbzt6OmE6q<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) September 7, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A number of pictures posted to social media also show that some Clicks stores have closed preemptively with security and mall personnel standing guard outside of stores.<\/p>\n

Unconfirmed reports also indicate that the damage and violence may have escalated at some stores.<\/p>\n

\n

Clicks Witbank petrol bombed. pic.twitter.com\/XF07POyMET<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) September 7, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Clicks Menlyn Mall Pretoria. pic.twitter.com\/lTYqo5jN4L<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) September 7, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The EFF said on Monday, that it had received legal correspondence<\/a><\/strong> from attorneys representing Clicks in which the retailer further acknowledged the unintended harm caused by the advert.<\/p>\n

Clicks warned that the incitement of violence and potential of harm to staff \u2018cannot be taken lightly \u2018 and instructed the EFF to retract the call to close Clicks stores.<\/p>\n

In response, the EFF said that it would not back down and informed<\/a> <\/strong>the attorneys that \u2018its racist clients Clicks can go to the nearest hell\u2019.<\/p>\n

\n

Read: These critical skills are in high demand in South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Source: BusinessTech<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on Monday (7 August), moved to close pharmaceutical retailer, Clicks stores across the country as part of a campaign against racially insensitive advert shown on the retailer\u2019s website. The advert included pictures of four women \u2013 two black and two white \u2013 and described the hair of the two black […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[52,53,54,55,56,8,57,59,72,60,61,62,63,64,65,66],"class_list":["post-1737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-co-za","tag-com","tag-affordable","tag-cheap","tag-cpanel","tag-development","tag-domain","tag-hosting","tag-interweb","tag-joomla","tag-registration","tag-reseller","tag-shared","tag-south-africa","tag-website","tag-wordpress"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/interwebdev.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/interwebdev.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/interwebdev.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interwebdev.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interwebdev.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/interwebdev.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1737\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/interwebdev.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interwebdev.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interwebdev.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}