EFF gives Clicks 24 hours to meet its list of demands… or else

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has published a list of demands that must be met by Clicks or face a nationwide protest.

The store is in hot water following adverts published on its website, labelling black hair as “frizzy and dull” and white hair as “normal”.

Let me get my Red EFF Overall ready #clicks it looks like there’s a need for a guerrilla visit #clicksmustfall pic.twitter.com/Z9kGPHyE81

— Obakeng Ramabodu (@RamaboduObakeng) September 4, 2020

The brand was called out for publishing the “racist” advert and has since apologised for the blunder.

UPDATE: EFF prepares to mobilise members to forcibly shut down all Clicks stores

“We sincerely apologise for offending our customers and letting you down. We acted swiftly and immediately removed the offending images which were provided by a supplier as part of their marketing campaign. As a brand we recognise that we have a responsibility to use whatever influence we have to remove implicit and explicit prejudice from society, the workplace and our advertising.

“We recognise that we have a role to play in how we represent our diverse customer base in our own and supplier advertising and we sincerely apologise for failing you. We know that we need to do better and commit to making sure that our content reflects the diverse voices and experiences of our customers,” said Rachel Wrigglesworth, Clicks Chief Commercial Officer.

Also read: ‘Apology not accepted’ – tweeps respond to Clicks’ apology

But South Africans are not taking this lying down and now the EFF has entered the conversation with a list of demands that must be met within the next 24 hours.

In a statement, secretary-general Marshall Dlamini said the party viewed the brand’s conduct to be “disturbing” and reminded South Africans of “our past painful history that was centred around racism that subjected black people to inhumane treatment and conditions”.

Among the demands, Clicks must immediately terminate the contracted company which commissioned the advert.

These are the EFF’s demands:

• We demand 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.
• We demand that the above must be executed within the next 24 hours and confirmation be put in writing.

“Should you not meet our demands above, we will close all Clicks stores in South Africa without any further notice. We urge you to take this letter seriously, as it is our last and final communication with your organisation until our demands are met,” said the party.

Social media users have been voicing their opinion on the matter using the hashtag #clicksmustfall.

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