Civil rights organisation AfriForum has condemned a decision by sports gear store Totalsports to remove images and stands of Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth from its stores.
On it’s Twitter page Totalsports said the decision was taken in order to appease customers.
Etzebeth is accused of using a racial slur outside a local pub at Langebaan on the Cape West Coast in August.
Totalsports says the move was made without judgement or bias. However, AfriForum’s Ernst Roets says with this decision Totalsports is stirring racial tensions.
The Human Rights Commission has launched a court case against Etzebeth who has denied the allegations. He is currently in Japan with the national team to take part in this weekends final of the Rugby World Cup.
The media controversy surrounding Eben Etzebeth has been felt in our stores. As a brand, we don’t do controversies, we do sport. We made the decision to remove his poster.
Without taking sides/passing judgement, we wanted to ensure all our customers feel comfortable in our stores— Totalsports (@TotalsportsSA) October 28, 2019
