Goldberg joins ‘till jam’ as Woolies posts strong results
Denis Goldberg had “filled his trolley with Woolworths groceries…when he saw that the store was selling Israeli imports”. The BDS #BoycottWoolworths campaign said in a statement on Thursday‚ “he then refused to buy anything”.“We are extremely proud to inform the media and the public that Goldberg‚ the famous freedom fighter who spent 22 years in jail (after being sentenced to life with Mandela and several others in the Rivonia trial)‚ joined activists in a ‘till jam action’ at Constantia Woolworths in the Western Cape‚” BDS said. The “till jam” was “similar to actions” he was involved in “decades ago against the apartheid government of South Africa‚ demanding that the world stop supporting apartheid South Africa”.“After spending 22 years in jail for freedom in South Africa he has continued to fight oppression by supporting the BDS campaign and the #BoycottWoolworths campaign.”BDS said the Goldberg’s “struggle credentials…have brought new pressure onto Woolworths with consistent and ever increasing till-jams‚ store actions‚ public condemnation and protest actions”.“Instead of protecting international law by cancelling their contracts with G4S and imports from Israel‚ Woolworths instead continues to threaten activists with legal action and court orders.”Less than an hour after the BDS statement was released‚ saying the “pressure is mounting on Woolworths to do the right thing and stop importing from Apartheid Israel”‚ Woolworths Holdings Ltd issued a statement announcing “strong results” for the year ended June 28 2015. This‚ the group said‚ “was a strong result with good market share gains in both South Africa and Australia”.According to the statement‚ “Woolworths Clothing and General Merchandise sales grew 9.6% and 4.0%”‚ while “Woolworths Food sales grew by 13.5%.The BDS statement said “till jams” are a “tactic inspired by the 1980s anti-apartheid movement” and quoted the example of “activists and consumers (who) would fill their trolleys and leave them at the check-out stands/tills of (Irish retailer) Dunnes Stores”...
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