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- The Western Cape EFF canceled its protest against SMG BMW after concerns about a job advertisement from a recruiting agency preferring a white candidate were resolved.
- This was after a picket at the dealership’s Century City branch, just after the Clicks closing of the party ended.
- The EFF said SMG BMW had explained that it was not responsible for the announcement and that it had also quickly sought to discuss the matter rather than mislead the party.
The EFF in Western Cape will not continue protests against SMG BMW branches over a job advertisement apparently favoring a white candidate after accepting that the advertisement was not the company’s fault.
“The EFF has engaged with the SMG Group and has resolved that the announcement was unfortunate and was not produced by them. Accordingly, we will not take any further protest action against BMW or SMG Group,” said party provincial chairman Melikhaya Xego. .
READ | ‘We are innocent’: BMW Cape Town branch responds to EFF protest over job advertisement for ‘white’ person
In a statement, he said that the EFF had met with the Sean McCarthy Group (SMG) to discuss allegations of racism against him after a report in Mail & Guardian. The post reported on an ad seeking, preferably, a white male for a position.
Last Friday, former MPL in the Western Cape legislature and EFF member Yusuf Joseph led a picket outside SMG’s Century City BMW branch on the issue.
At the time, the company told News24 that it was the innocent victim of an unsolicited offer from recruiting agency Julian Schlemmer and Associates, which had learned of a resignation.
Century City dealership manager Ryan Rheeder said, “There was no job to fill.”
He said that a marketing director had resigned and emigrated and that the position had been fired.
Comment was not immediately available from Schlemmer on Friday.
According to Mail & Guardian, Schlemmer initially declined to answer their questions, specifically prior to publication, only to say that his company is “not racially prejudiced.”
He later emailed the SMG group “apologizing for any inconvenience caused,” claiming to have heard “through the Durban market, of a possible vacancy at SMG as a result of a manager leaving,” according to the report.
‘False, false’
In the EFF announcement on Friday, Xego said: “An announcement detailing a job placement was circulated in which white men were called to apply as a priority.
“This level of racism represents a disgusting culture of prioritizing whites for jobs in a country where the majority of blacks are unemployed.
“Upon further investigation, the EFF has discovered that the advertisement issued on behalf of SMG was false.
“This provocation is just one more indicator that there are racists in this country who find joy in provoking the emotions and pain of blacks and using genuine anger to distort efforts against racism.”
Xego told News24 that the difference between SMG BMW’s problem and Clicks’ was that SMG BMW had responded immediately to explain what had happened.
He said this was different from Clicks, who chose to go to court first to obtain an order against his planned protests.
It said that SMG BMW had agreed that its protest on the matter was legitimate.
Rheeder confirmed Friday that the matter had been resolved “with honesty and integrity” and that the EFF had accepted that the accusation against him was false.
He said there was no material agreement or donations involved to resolve the dispute.
READ | I’m tired of dancing on issues of inclusion and diversity, says the former Clicks director after his departure
Xego said there was no material component to the resolution.
The clickers were previously criticized for posting a Unilever TRESemmé campaign on their website, and they admitted that images showing a black model’s hair as “dry and damaged” and a white model’s hair as “normal” were racist.
After three days of store closures by EFF supporters, the party called a truce with Clicks and Unilever, protests were called off, and they pledged to donate sanitary pads to the poor through EFF.
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