26 Nov 2014
Earlier today, News24 interviewed protestors outside the Woolworths AGM in Cape Town.
26 Nov 2014
News24 Live interviewed Woolworths head of corporate communications Susie Squire about the AGM today and the protests from BDS SA.
26 Nov 2014
News24 comments are a powerful space for debate (and at times can be quite harsh). The thumbs up (and down in some cases) shows clearly where the News24 readers' support lies:
26 Nov 2014
Abbas's visit comes days
after UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged Israel and the Palestinians to "step back
from the brink" and return to peace talks amid European moves toward
recognising Palestine.
His comments reflected
international alarm over the spate of violent attacks in east Jerusalem and the
deadlock over peace talks that are fuelling fear of another flareup after the
war in Gaza earlier this year.
With no political solution
in sight, governments and parliaments in Europe are moving towards Palestinian
recognition, with France's National Assembly set to vote on a non-binding
resolution on December 2.
26 Nov 2014
"People of South
Africa and Palestine have a strong bond built in the trenches of our two struggles,
we want to build even stronger relations and cooperation based on that
historical relationship," said Zuma.
26 Nov 2014
AFP Reports that the ANC is a firm supporter of the Palestinian cause, with
politicians regularly comparing Israel to the former racist apartheid state in
South Africa. When Nelson Mandela was
elected first democratic president in 1994, he pledged to support Palestine,
saying: "South Africa's freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the
Palestinians."
26 Nov 2014
Abbas said the Palestinians
sought to benefit from South Africa's "successful experiences" in
building an independent state.
"We are the last
nation in the world that is still living under occupation," he said.
26 Nov 2014
South Africa was ready to
assist with negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and had appointed
two special envoys for the task, Zuma added.
26 Nov 2014
AFP REPORTS:
"The reality is that
the overwhelming majority in the world agrees with the position of two states
living side by side in peace, but we have a problem of a country that is
defying all of that," said Zuma.
"We reiterate our call
for the total cessation of all settlement activities," Zuma told a joint
news conference with Abbas.
Criticising the way the
United Nations works, he added: "I don't think the system should allow
that one country can defy the world."
26 Nov 2014
Israel is defying the world
by "undermining" prospects for a two state solution through its
settlements policy, South African President Jacob Zuma said Wednesday as he
welcomed Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas on a state visit, according to AFP.
26 Nov 2014
This Palestinian issue has gone political now. President Jacob Zuma this afternoon conferred the
Order of the companions of OR Tambo on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and in return was bestowed the "Star of Palestine" by President Abbas.
26 Nov 2014
Dayan Haemet wrote on the BDS SA post: "Sponsoring free train rides, handing out free t-shirts, sandwiches, some people I hear have said they have been promised money to take off work today to come and protest. They've rented a crowd! Meanwhile, they don't give a damn what those people are going to eat tonight and which children in their own country are being raped and murdered right now. Its only useful to these evil people when they can talk negatively about Israel - not what is happening in their own backyards."
26 Nov 2014
BDS SA offered commuters free trains into the Cape Town CBD to part of the protest in front of the Woolworths headquarters ahead of their AGM.
26 Nov 2014
Woolworths spokesperson
Paula Disberry, group director of retail operations, told Fin24 on Tuesday:
“Our
sales continue to show healthy year on year growth. We have no idea how they
arrive at a figure of R7.8m a month.”
26 Nov 2014
Susie Squire, head of communications, said she has no idea where BDS SA or the Wits researcher got those figures as she has never seen them before.
26 Nov 2014
Wits
University researcher Ciara Gatonby claimed in a research paper on Monday that Woolworths Holdings Limited had lost
over R30m (close to $3m) since the start of the
#BoycottWoolworths campaign - almost R8m a month. Gatonby stressed that:
"the actual impact could be in the hundreds of millions".
26 Nov 2014
Squire said that BDS SA had promised 500 protestors outside Woolworths and 50 shareholders inside, but said it seemed more like 50 protestors outside and 10 shareholders inside.
26 Nov 2014
The SA government imposed new rules last year which require goods imported from occupied Palestinian territories to display special labels.
FULL ARTICLE
26 Nov 2014
Squire says David Jones are aware that Mr Desai and
BDS could be heading over to start a similar campaign at their Australian
stores.
26 Nov 2014
Squire: I have corresponded at length with me (Muhammed) Desai (of BDS SA). I
have made it very clear that we don't source from occupied territory of
Palestine.
26 Nov 2014
Bloomberg reports demonstrators
bought Woolworths shares ahead of the meeting to put pressure on management.
FULL STORY
26 Nov 2014
Squire: SA government said we can trade with Israel. We
are being targeted because of what we stand for and because we are high
profile. What we won't have is them threatening our customers and staff.
Freedom of expression is great but not when it puts these people in danger.
26 Nov 2014
Squire: It's about the principle of being apolitical.
26 Nov 2014
Squire: Our first preference is always to trade locally.
26 Nov 2014
Squire: Out of 1000s of products we have only three
products from Israel. We don't have any deep relationship with Israel. It is
quite wrong to draw political conclusions from this. We are not in the business
of foreign affairs.
26 Nov 2014
Squire: Chairperson Simon Susman answered a lot of questions to do
with Israel and gave the shareholders a lot of chances to ask questions.
26 Nov 2014
Squire: The important thing about our AGM was that it
covered everything to do with our business over the year.
26 Nov 2014
Fin24's interview with Susie Squire, head of communications at
Woolworths is about to start.
26 Nov 2014
Moeng:
In the end, and while waiting for clear political leadership
on the matter, Woolworths
and other South African businesses must decide whether or not importing goods
from Israel is worth the recurring nuisance that it causes; that is if they're incapable /unwilling to make decisions from a
clear ethical stance.
26 Nov 2014
Moeng:
I
believe that Woolworths decided to go to the courts only as a last resort,
following numerous incidents of alleged harassment of customers and staff. This
step, though not always the best approach to dealing with such matters, is
understandable.
26 Nov 2014
Moeng:
It's
not the first time that the Israeli product issue is kicked to Woolworths' door
and, judging by past experience, it will happen again if we, as a country, do
not make a collective decision - once and for all - about what we want to do
with Israel.
26 Nov 2014
Moeng:
This
silence from the department of International Relations and Cooperation is a matter of
concern. It seems like someone decided to kick the stinking can to
Woolworths' door and expected the retailer to deal with it on behalf of the
whole world. It is cowardice and will not, approached this way, achieve the desired
results of seeing Israel improve on its human rights record and practices.
Woolworths alone cannot achieve this.
26 Nov 2014
Moeng:
This
matter should not be Woolworths' problem alone. South Africa, led by its
conspicuously quiet government, should decide on a clear policy on trading with
Israel and communicate it widely. Someone needs to lead from the front!
26 Nov 2014
Reputation management expert Solly Moeng on the Woolworths vs BDS matter:
While
the concerns of pro-Palestinian human rights activists have to be taken
seriously by everyone, I do think that there is something wrong in the
approach.
Woolworths
is not the only company doing business with Israel and, given the value of its
imports, it would not make a big dent on Israel's economy even if it were to
stop importing the few products that it buys from there.
26 Nov 2014
Fin24 user Johan Venter on #boycottwoolworths:
That’s when the rainbow nation becomes too
rainbow...
26 Nov 2014
News24 Live and Fin24 are at Woolworths HQ to interview
Woolworths about the AGM and the protesters who disrupted proceedings.
26 Nov 2014
Protesters have left the scene and calm has once again
returned the Woolworths HQ.
Pic: Matthew le Cordeur
26 Nov 2014
Fin24's Matthew le Cordeur captured this video earlier today.
26 Nov 2014
“The Woolworths brand is increasingly questioned,” Marthie Momberg said in her statement. “The real issue is not the number of Israeli products on the shelves of Woolworths, but rather the existence of contracts between Woolworths and Israeli businesses.
FULL STORY
26 Nov 2014
Marthie Momberg said she was compelled to reveal her concerns about the image and the ethics of the company in which she invested a considerable amount of her savings.
26 Nov 2014
Woolworths Ethics and integrity:
"We continue to promote the Tip-offs Anonymous line run by
Deloitte and the rewards for information, which leads to successful preventions
of fraud and shrinkage. Through our induction process, and awareness creation
around our policies, we specifically cover training around ethics, bribery and
anti-corruption."
26 Nov 2014
Woolworths Ethics and integrity:
Our ethics programme is supported by corporate policies
covering gifts, insider trading and conflict of interest. As a company we have
a zero tolerance policy towards fraud, theft, corruption or any similar illegal
behaviour. We will take disciplinary action against any employee who is
involved in, or assists with, committing fraud, theft and corruption. In terms
of the company’s disciplinary code, involvement in these acts is a dismissible offence.
26 Nov 2014
Woolworths Ethics and integrity:
“Sustainability” is
one of our seven Woolworths values, entrenching its importance in the cultural
fabric of the organisation, and joining “quality and style, value, service,
innovation, integrity and energy” as the compass for decision making at
Woolworths.
26 Nov 2014
Woolworths Ethics and integrity:
"Our internal 'Let’s Ask' survey has shown that 86% of our
employees feel positive about Woolworths as an ethical company over the last
year. In addition, values and behaviour continue to form a material part of
each employee’s performance appraisal process."
26 Nov 2014
Woolworths Ethics and integrity:
"A strong value system has always been at the core of the WHL
Group. As a Group, we have adopted the set of values as formulated by
Woolworths (below). Country Road has its own values, which are well-aligned to
our Group belief and behaviours."