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Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has denied that a crisis meeting took place in anticipation of a protest at the upcoming concert by Grammy award-winning American singer and rapper Pharrell Williams at the Grand West Casino complex on September 21.
The activist group BDS SA (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel in South Africa) claims in a statement that "vast numbers" of #BoycottWoolworths protesters can be expected outside the upcoming Pharrell Williams concert in Cape Town.
Woolworths announced earlier this year that it has partnered with Williams on the “Are you With Us?” campaign across a series of sustainability-focused projects.
BDS SA, a member of the National Coalition 4 Palestine (NC4P), has been waging a protest action against Woolworths because it wants the retailer to stop stocking products from Israel. It also called on Williams to postpone his trip until such time as Woolworths withdraws from stocking products from Israel.
READ: Woolworths shareholders send warning over boycott campaign
"The less than 1% of produce that Woolworths continues to import from Israel (instead of sourcing locally or from the African continent) is tarnishing not only Woolworth’s brand name but now also that of Pharrell Williams and anyone else who decides to accept money for marketing Woolworths," said BDS SA in the statement.
“The withdrawal of trade with South Africa by multinational corporations with a conscience in the 1980s was ultimately one of the key levers that brought the apartheid state – bloodlessly – to its knees. Those corporations understood that by contributing to South Africa’s economy, they were contributing to the retention of an unjust status quo. We trust that Woolworths does not want to contribute to an unjust Israeli status quo."
In the past Woolworths has said it follows the South African government’s rules on international trade and that more than 95% of its food is sourced locally. Furthermore, the retailer pointed out that the Government of South Africa authorises trade with Israel.
READ: Court bans Woolworths protests
BDS SA claimed in a statement issued on Wednesday that the City of Cape Town has called for "a crisis meeting as they appear to be concerned about logistics "due to the vast numbers of protesters - tens of thousands - expected outside the upcoming concert in Cape Town".
Councillor Xanthea Limberg, Mayoral Committee Member for Corporate Services of the City of Cape Town, told News24Wire on Tuesday that it would like to state upfront, and contrary to what BDS has stated, that it does not consider the boycott and potential public gathering at the GrandWest Casino a "crisis".
Limberg confirmed that a meeting was held on Wednesday July 22, with the Boycott Woolworths Western Cape Volunteers (BWWCV) but stated that it was not a "crisis meeting".
"Such meetings are normal procedure in terms of the City’s processing of applications for a gathering permit. The BWWCV applied for a gathering permit on June 29 2015 to stage a protest at the GrandWest Casino during the concert," said Limberg.
However, a number of required details were missing from the gathering application form and the gathering has, therefore, not been approved as yet.
All affected parties were invited to attend today’s meeting, which included representatives from the GrandWest Casino.
"The BWWCV indicated that they had a problem with the GrandWest representatives being in attendance and accused City officials of being biased in favour of GrandWest Casino. The City categorically refutes this accusation," said Limberg.
"All attempts were made to address the concerns raised and proceed with the meeting, however the BWWCV refused to continue with the meeting. The meeting has been postponed to August 4 2015 and all parties have agreed to be in attendance."
Limberg emphasised that with any gathering, the City has to ensure, for the sake of the safety of attendees, that there will be no obstruction of vehicular or pedestrian traffic, "especially in this instance where the anticipated number of participants is about 50 000, according to BWWCV".
Fin24 approached Woolworths about the planned protest at the concert, but the retailer said it has no comment.
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