Apology is ‘meaningless’, Clicks must stock more African hair products, says Minister Ntshavheni

Small Business Development Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has rejected Clicks’ apology for the controversial racial hair advert as the retailer has “missed the point” of their offensive act which undermined the beauty of African women.

Ntshavheni, the latest to weigh in on the Clicks’ blunder which sparked public outrage, dismissed the retailer, saying taking down the advert and issuing a “meaningless” apology was not good enough.

“Clicks misses the point that the offence is not only about the images that are insensitive but the fact that it represents the views of TRESemmé that are racist and reflects the continued undermining of the beauty of African women and the violence they suffer when they are deemed not meeting certain superficial standards. Therefore, to pull down the advert and issue a public apology cannot cut it.”

The controversial advert, which described black women’s hair as dull and damaged and compared it to white women’s hair which was described as fine or normal, was the act of hair company TRESemmé as a promotional campaign which was published on the Clicks website.

TRESemmé South Africa and Unilever have also issued a public apology.

But, the minister said, should Clicks be serious about making amends, it should consider placing more products made for African hair and manufactured by local small businesses on their shelves as diversity and inclusivity training for staff was not enough. She said her department would assist the retailer with a list of African hair products made by local businesses.

“The time for South Africa to accept lip service apologies on racism and derogatory acts is over, but apologies must be backed by action to build a non-racial and equal society. A non-racial and equal society can only be underpinned by an inclusive economy, which requires the empowerment of black, women and youth-owned businesses.

“Any claim of non-racialism that is devoid of impactful economic transformation actions cannot be acceptable.”

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