Business as usual says Clicks as EFF threatens to shut down stores

Health and beauty retailer Clicks say they have put in place contingency plans to ensure the safety of staff and customers.

This comes after the EFF threatened to shut down Clicks store's nationwide on Monday.

In a statement on Sunday, the EFF said that it had written to Clicks with “direct demands in order to remedy their racist act” and had given it 24 hours to respond. The EFF said it  was not satisfied by the company’s response, calling it condescending and lacking in remorse.

Clicks came under fire on Friday for an advert in a campaign run on its website where it published an image of African hair, which was labelled as dry and damaged, while an example of white hair is described as fine and flat.

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The company, after social media outrage, took down the ad and apologised.

The EFF said the company needed to close for five days because, it claimed, the apology it issued was not genuine.

In response, Clicks said in a statement to TimesLIVE that they could not close their stores as they provided "much-needed healthcare service to South Africans".

"Contingency plans have been put in place to ensure the safety of both customers and staff," the company said. "Clicks has taken full accountability and apologised unreservedly for the advertisement published on its website and has taken immediate action to address all concerns."

TimesLIVE