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The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) announced on Friday that it will launch an investigation into the advertising industry related to racism.
This comes after a TRESemmé ad on the Clicks website depicted natural black hair as “dry and damaged”, drawing widespread criticism and inspiring nationwide protests by the EFF.
The SAHRC met with Clicks management on Friday.
READ | Hair click ad: Senior executive resigns, TRESemmé to be removed from shelves, employees suspended
“During the engagement with Clicks, it became clear that structural racism continues to hamper the industry as a whole,” spokesman Buang Jones said in a statement.
“[T]The Gauteng Provincial Commission Office, along with the KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape Offices, will convene an investigation into the advertising industry, advertising standards and its adherence to human rights in an effort to address structural racism in the industry “.
Meanwhile, Unilever South Africa said it was surprised to find out that it had provided images for a TRESemmé ad showing black hair as inferior. “This was racist and we apologize without reservation,” said Unilever SA, which licenses TRESemmé products, in a statement on Friday. “At the same time, we started to review all the marketing campaigns and images in our South African portfolio to ensure they match our commitment to celebrate all beauty and promote diversity and inclusion,” he added.
The Commission said that during the meeting, Clicks CEO Vikesh Ramsunder explained how the announcement had made it to the group’s website and the measures that were put in place now to prevent the same incident from happening again in the future.
READ ALSO |Clicks pledges to increase spending on SMEs and local products after meeting with the government
The retailer also informed the Commission about ongoing transformation training for its staff, including management. The CEO also vowed to engage suppliers in the company’s transformation agenda, to avoid future insensitive announcements.
The President of the Commission, Adv. Bongani Majola, emphasized to Clicks that the nature of the advertisement on the Clicks website, along with others in the retail industry, is inconsistent with South Africa’s constitutional goals, transformation, and efforts to promote social cohesion. ”
Clicks has also put the matter to bed with EFF after their meeting on Thursday.
The party also had a separate meeting with Unilever.
Following its meeting with the retailer, EFF announced that both parties agreed that Clicks will donate a minimum of 50,000 sanitary napkins (sanitary napkins), 50,000 disinfectants and masks to rural and informal settlements identified by the party.
EFF also said it would work with law enforcement agencies to ensure that the agents provocateurs involved in the Clicks store vandalism are brought to the reserve.
– Compiled by Adiel Ismail and Sesona Ngqakamba
