Removal of TRESemme products from shelves could harm SMME livelihoods

9 September 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has taken note of the decision by Clicks and Checkers to pull TRESemme products from their shelves following the offensive and problematic advert which appeared on the Clicks website that played into historical negative stereotypes about African hair.

The DA believes that both TRESemme’s parent company, Unilever, and Clicks should be rightly held accountable for their insensitivity as it relates to this deeply problematic advert. It is unfortunate, however, that consumers and SMME’s, that form part of the value chain, are being punished.

We also find it regrettable that both Clicks and Checkers have now succumbed to political pressure from both the EFF’s violent destruction of property, as well as comments from Small Business Development Minister, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni.

In her response to the controversy, the Minister called for TRESemme products to be removed from Clicks shelves.

While it is correct to champion more inclusivity and diversity in the retail offering of hair care products, particularly those made by SMMEs, it is quite another matter, and ill-advised, to advocate for the removal of current products.

This decision by Clicks and the Minister’s support of this move will not only constrain consumer choice, but the adverse upstream effects of such a move could be harmful to the small businesses that feed into the value chains of those removed products.

Is Minister Ntshavheni willing to tell the employees of those affected small businesses that their livelihoods are less important than her indignation? Does the Minister not understand that the government should be doing everything possible to protect businesses, preserve jobs and enable economic recovery, in the face of business closures, job losses and economic contraction stemming from the devastating hard lockdown?

This call is reflective of the zero-sum thinking that Minister Ntshavheni seemingly has about the small business ecosystem, namely that some must lose or shrink in order for others to win or grow, and it directly contradicts her portfolio’s mandate of small business development.

It is a false and limited perspective which sets the stage for unnecessary conflict, on the assumption of a finite pie to be shared, rather than maximising on prospects for increasing the size of the pie through creating and expanding opportunities for more small business financing, more ease and lower costs of doing business, improved access to markets, and ultimately higher economic growth.

Issued by Zakhele Mbhele, DA Shadow Minister of Small Business Development, 9 September 2020