JOHANNESBURG – The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) on Sunday took to Twitter to mobilise its members to forcibly shut down all Clicks stores across the country in a tweet as the store will not be shutting down voluntarily.
“If Clicks does not close, our members in all the branches will shut down all 880 Clicks outlets across the country from Monday 7 September 2020 to Friday, 11 September 2020,” the EFF was quoted as having said in a statement.
The health and beauty retailer triggered the ire of South Africans over images on their website, which most viewed as showing prejudice against natural black hair.
Clicks then issued a public apology after the images sparked outrage on social media. “We would like to issue an unequivocal apology. We have removed the images which go against everything we believe in. We do not condone racism and we are strong advocates of natural hair. We are deeply sorry and will put in place stricter measures on our website,” reads the apology on Clicks’ Twitter thread.
While largely supported the EFF’s move to forcibly shut down Clicks stores has triggered mixed reactions with some saying the EFF is playing judge and jury over the Clicks hair advert and others saying their demands are outrageous.
The EFF demanded:
- That Clicks Publicly list the names of all the Clicks directors and employees who were involved in the commissioning of the said advert.
- That all people who were involved in the commissioning of the advert in question, whether they be employees of Clicks or independent contractors be dismissed with immediate effect.
- Publicly list the name of service providers or contractors who commissioned the advert in question.
- Publicly list the names of all directors of the company that commissioned the advert.
- That the contracted company which commissioned the advert must have its contract terminated with immediate effect.
One Tweep raised concerns about the workers at Clicks. “What about our brothers and sisters working there? They must lose pay for a day for something that can be resolved without attacking the stores,” he said.
IOL
