H&M tries to make amends for monkey T-shirt

H&M’s country manager in South Africa, Par Darj, met the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on Wednesday to present the Swedish clothing retailer’s plan to remedy the effects of its controversial advertisement that sparked racial outrage in January.

The advert displaying clothing from H&M’s boys catalogue showed an African boy wearing a sweater with the phrase “Coolest monkey in the jungle” on the front.

Although the advert appeared on the Swedish clothing giant’s United Kingdom website, it sparked outrage all over the world, including South Africa. The SAHRC said it welcomed H&M’s plan, which includes a commitment to train its managers on diversity, inclusiveness, transformation and the impact of racism at both global and national levels.

The clothing giant would also submit its internal gender and equality policies to the SAHRC, provide progress reports and hold quarterly feedback meetings with SAHRC to monitor the implementation of their policies. The SAHRC will monitor its commitments and continue to engage with H&M to address the tenuous relationship between business and human rights, it said.

In January, after the storm of accusations of racism broke, the company took down the advert and apologised to those who were offended. But despite this, members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) were not appeased and went on a nationwide protest, vandalising six H&M stores in Gauteng and one in Durban.

EFF leader Julius Malema denied that he had instructed party members to do this, but congratulated them on taking a stand against racism.

Other organisations, such as the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, questioned how H&M could put out the advertisement without considering the social impact of using a word such as monkey, historically used to demean Africans. The foundation said it had written to the retail company and received a bland response.