Johannesburg – Clicks Group’s non-executive director Nonkululeko Gobodo on Wednesday said that she has raised a red flag with management a few months ago over the way it was communicating with black customers.
The retailer closed all its stores on Wednesday morning to offer counselling and support to staff in the wake of the public outrage over a racist advert on its website.
Clicks is facing backlash for approving and displaying the advert, which described a black woman’s hair as “dry, damaged and frizzy” comparing it to white hair, which it labelled as “normal”.
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) members fanned out across the country this week in a bid to force the retailer to close down, which resulted in many stores damaged in the process.
Gobodo said the crisis did not come out of nowhere.
“It’s very strange actually. In the last strategic session, this is what I was asking. ‘How are you talking to your black customers?’ And there was even a plan and all of that. And now a few months later, it is proven that the plan is not working. We do have to insist on inclusivity, we want an inclusive economy,” said Gobodo.
Clicks said it would resume trading on Thursday.
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