The National Coalition 4 Palestine (NC4P) together with the ANC Youth League, Cosatu and other Palestine solidarity organisations will be making an announcement regarding the growing #BoycottWoolworths campaign, tomorrow, Monday 24^th November in Cape Town.

 

An independent survey conducted on the impact of the #BoycottWoolworths campaign will also be released at the press conference.

 

Media is invited to attend and report

 

A complete boycott of Woolworths was called for in early August by NC4P and other organisations due to its trade links with Israeli companies amounting to R12 million a year (in line with the international call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against apartheid Israel).  Since the call was made, the campaign has intensified with numerous protests, till jams, flashmobs and other creative actions around the country during the National Day of Action on the last Saturday of every month and weekly demonstrations.

 

 Last week a group of concerned Woolworths shareholders held a press conference and called on the company to act responsibly in line with good corporate governance to end trade ties with Israel and meet with activists and consumers who are concerned about the trade relationship with Israel. Woolworths Holdings Limited share price dropped 4.9% after the release of the company's trading update on the 20th November.  For the first time in years, both the like-for-like food sales volume was negative and the like-for-like clothing sales volume was negative. The retailer’s domestic food sales for the 20 weeks to November 16 advanced 4% less than the comparable period of 2013. Clothing sales growth slowed by 2, 2% from a year earlier. Many have attributed the share price drop to the growing #BoycottWoolworths campaign.

 

For more information, please contact:

 

Bram Hanekom (ANCYL) - 081 353 0699

Reverend Edwin Arrison (NC4P) - 084 735 1835

Muhammed Desai (BDS SA) - 084 211 9988