Clicks stores on the West Rand were no exception when the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) forcefully shut down more than 800 outlets nationwide on Monday, 7 September.
Heeding the call from their Commander In Chief, Julius Malema, members of the red party descended on various shopping centres in the northern areas of Roodepoort to protest and make sure not a single store was operational.
The protest action, which turned violent in other parts of the country, stemmed from a website advertisement that was deemed racist and disrespectful towards African hair.
The beauty-care retailer posted images of different types of hair with descriptions. Black natural hair was described as frizzy, dull, dry and damaged, while silky blond hair was labelled as normal.
https://twitter.com/RdptRecord/status/1302904870039703552
The ad, which has since been removed, angered numerous South Africans on social media, some even threatening to boycott the retail company.
In spite of their apology online and by its CEO Vikesh Ramsunder, the EFF deemed the apology inappropriate and went ahead with their protest action, which is planned for the entire week.
In the Northsider area, the outlets at Cradlestone and Clearwater Malls had a favourable crowd of EFF supporters who effectively shut down the stores, despite police and security presence. Meanwhile the outlets in smaller shopping centres such as Featherbrooke Village and Town Square voluntarily shut their doors, seemingly because threats were mounting and of course to avoid chaos in their midst.
The Northsider journalist requested interviews from the EFF members on the ground but was denied any as they claimed they weren’t allowed to speak to the media, a directive that came from the higher powers of the party.
https://twitter.com/RdptRecord/status/1302898225381355520
While the EFF had a bit of success with their cause, the ripple effect caused stores neighbouring Clicks outlets either to close their doors or operate under very ‘abnormal’ conditions.
The EFF under Malema’s instruction has opted to ensure that no Clicks store operates for the next five days until their demands are met, which are to obtain the list of people who were involved in creating the advert, and terminating the contract of the third-party company that was involved in projecting black hair as ‘ugly’.
This is a developing story.
https://twitter.com/RdptRecord/status/1302888353713524736
