Woolies still under fire

The ANC Youth League is on a crusade to ensure that no vegetables grown in Israel end up on South Africans' plates.

A handful of youth league supporters, in ANC T-shirts, protested outside the Woolworths head office in Cape Town yesterday, demanding that the retail giant cut ties with Israeli suppliers.

They called on South Africans to boycott Woolworths for supporting an "apartheid state".

Woolworths imports pretzels, matzos, litchis, mangoes, cherries and other fruits and vegetables from Israel.

A spokesman for the youth league, Braam Hanekom, said the protest was part of a boycott of Woolworths led by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Against Israel movement in South Africa.

He said the retailer generated R12-million profit a year from products from Israel.

"The apartheid state of Israel should be boycotted economically. We [consumers] should not be paying for the bullets and the bombs that are used against children in Palestine," he said.

"[Woolworths] could easily withdraw those products. Instead it wants its franchises around the country to lose hundreds of millions of rands because we will shut down many, many Woolworths stores. We have been discouraging all members of the youth league, the Young Communist League and the SA Communist Party . from buying from Woolworths."

Hanekom said the campaign would be intensified until Woolworths heeded its demands.

Woolworths said yesterday it had been inundated with views on the issue. The company insisted that it complied with government guides on Israeli products and stated the origin of every product on labels.

"Woolworths abhors violence and loss of life, particularly of children, in any circumstance and we are deeply saddened by the tragic consequences of the conflict in Gaza," Woolworths said.

"Many of our customers have asked if we source from the occupied territories. We do not. We cater for a wide range of customers in our stores and try hard to acknowledge and celebrate the various beliefs and traditions of each group."