South Africa’s government is inviting the public, including the private sector, to nominate people to serve on a statutory council that will advance transformation in the marketing, advertising and communications sector, the Presidency said.

The Presidency issued its statement late on Wednesday against the backdrop of the ongoing nationwide controversy over local retailer Clicks’ advertisement for a hair product which depicted African women’s hair as dry and damaged while Caucasian women’s hair was labelled “normal”.

Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu, who is responsible for the Government Communication and Information System, recently published a government gazette calling for nominations for the council.

“The appointment of the MAC (the marketing, advertising and communications) Charter Council is directed towards ensuring that transformation in the sector is promoted, monitored and reported on annually in line with the provisions of the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act,” the Presidency said.

According to South Africa’s code for the sector, the nominees must represent a broad cross-section of the country’s population and be committed to the objectives and principles of promoting economic transformation as espoused in the Constitution.

In addition, they must have qualifications, expertise and experience in marketing, advertising and communication.

Those appointed will serve as non-executive members of the council for a maximum period of four years from October 1.

Critics say as a legacy of South Africa’s apartheid past, the marketing, advertising and communications industry is still dominated by whites, leading to bias against other races in some commercials.

The current controversy which has engulfed Clicks, with the small but militant Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) opposition staging protests at its stores, is not the first example of a company coming under fire for an advert deemed racist in South Africa.

In 2018, EFF supporters trashed several stores belonging to Swedish clothing company H&M over a commercial in which a young black boy wore a hooded sweat shirt bearing the words “Coolest monkey in the jungle”.