Billionaire founder of the Virgin group of companies, Richard Branson, has apologised for a photo tweeted from his Twitter account following the launch of his new centre for entrepreneurship in South Africa.
The Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship will assist a select group of entrepreneurs with dedicated project managers to help grow their businesses, and it will also provide administration, finance and legal functions to participants.
Some of the entrepreneurs already supported by the centre include Lolo Ndlovu, who provides sneaker-cleaning services, and I Love Coffee, a coffee-shop franchise that employs people who are hearing-impaired.
The centre was officially launched at an event held at Virgin's wine farm, Mont Rochelle near Franschhoek.
Branson tweeted this photo following the event:
The fact that an all-white group was featured on the photo received a heated response on local social media:
Uhm... white folk arent the only entrepreneurs in South Africa, Richard.
— miss vanjie (@taahira_k) November 11, 2019
Where did you find so many white people in South Africa??? That must have really taken an honest effort for exclude the majority of the population which is just as skilled and talented. Wow. Incredible ??????
— Thula Sindi (@thulasindi) November 11, 2019
Sir, 80% of the South African population is Black. Only 9% is white. Why is your South African team 100% white?
— Nonhle Beryl (@NonhleBeryl) November 11, 2019
On Tuesday evening, Branson tweeted an apology for the lack of diversity in the photo:
The Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship is for all South Africans, but yesterday's choice of a photo to go with my tweet clearly lacked diversity. Apologies. I hope you will take a look at my blog which does far better justice to the amazing work of the Centre and its team.
— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) November 12, 2019
New controversy
Fresh from the debate in South Africa, Branson moved on to more controversy Down Under.
On Tuesday, he told the Sydney Morning Herald that the Australian government should fight climate change by stopping the use of coal, and halting coal exports to China.
His remarks sparked a torrent of criticism, with the Sky News television presenter Rita Panahi dubbing Branson - whose group runs planes, trains and a new launched cruise line, all of which are considerable polluters - “the world’s biggest hypocrite”.
Compiled by Helena Wasserman