The pants featured a patch depicting a bird with its wings spread hovering over a circle containing a four-pronged symbol. A man complained to the South African Jewish Board of Deputies Cape Council about the symbol‚ which he believed looked similar to a swastika.
He said the patch caught his eye as he walked by the store on Saturday. “Everybody knows what a swastika looks like‚” the man‚ who asked to remain anonymous‚ said. “I just think this is bad taste.”
The patch bore resemblance to the Parteiadler emblem‚ according to Liza-Jane Saban‚ the head of communications for the SA Jewish Board of Deputies Cape Council‚ which monitors anti-semitism in the province. The emblem became Germany's national symbol under the Nazi Party in 1935‚ Saban said in an email to TimesLIVE.
Saban‚ who said her group received complaints about the item‚ noted that “accidental” Nazi imagery was not uncommon in stores‚ but cautioned that retailers should be more vigilant.
Saban said that the store‚ Choice Clothing‚ was owned by a member of the Jewish community who agreed to remove the item. Saban said the SAJBD Cape Council was pleased with the decision.
Harold Hessen‚ who according to his LinkedIn account is associated with Choice Clothing‚ declined to answer questions about the garment. Hessen only said it “was an absolute mistake what happened.”
Before they were removed from the store‚ the cargo pants were hanging on a rack at midday on Monday for R159.99.
“The SAJBD (Cape Council) believes that it is insensitive for any retailers to stock clothing with Nazi symbolism‚” Saban said. “It is not only highly naïve‚ but grossly offensive.”
- TimesLIVE
Source: TMG Digital.
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