UPDATE: 21/09/15 – Anti-Israel protesters made their way to the Cape’s Grandwest Casino on Monday to protest against the Woolworths-organised Pharrell Williams concert.
“We are saying to Pharrell and Woolworths: Choose to be on the right side of history,” said Muhammed Desai, national coordinator of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions South Africa (BDS-SA).
The #PharrellProtest – as it is named on social media – was part of a year-long boycott of Woolworths – an attempt to force the company to end its relations with Israel.
Desai said multiple attempts had been made to contact Williams and his media team to prevent the protest.
“We were willing to meet with him, fly to wherever he needed to be.”
“But he refused to speak to us.”
Therefore, the protest would go ahead on Monday afternoon.
Desai said it was an uphill battle to receive approval for the protest.
Having applied for the right to protest, BDS-SA were initially told they could only have 150 participants. A court later overturned this, and increased the number of participants allowed to protest to 16 000. Report via iol.co.za
UPDATE: 05/08/15
With just weeks left before US artist Pharrell Williams touches down in SA for the Woolworths campaign, things seems to be taking another turn.
As announced in April , WoolWorths will be bringing Pharrell to perform 2 public concert , Cape Town on 21st September at Grand Arena, GrandWest then 24th September at Ticketpro Dome.
According to reports, the star will face protests during his tour in Mzansi from a pro-Palestinian group that opposes his partnership with Woolworths, a major retailer in the country that has trade ties with Israel, Reuters reports.
Braam Hanekom, a BDS South Africa board member told Reuters, “He is about to face the biggest backlash any artist has faced in South Africa in over 30 years, since the days of apartheid.”
“He is walking into a very angry, unhappy environment because he has chosen to walk with Woolworths,” Hanekom told Reuters after the City of Cape Town denied an application by thousands to protest at Pharrell’s first concert on 21 September at Grand West Casino.
Pharrell’s representatives did not respond immediately for comment. Grand West Casino, where the Cape Town concert will take place, said they would not allow any protests on their property.