Cape Union Mart hauls pro-Palestine activists to court

THE Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has described Cape Union Mart’s court application against it as an attempt to gag activists engaged in peaceful protest 

The  international retailer  has turned to the Western Cape High Court  for an interdict restraining PSC from labelling them as supporting genocide, saying  ongoing protests and boycott campaign at its stores have led to financial losses and reputational damage. 

The application filed last week  urges the   five activists from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign  to stop making claims that the retailer and its associated brands "fund genocide, killing children, or are complicit in the killing of children."

Respondents include Magmuda Ockards, Muhammad Shafiq Gamiet, Mohamed Zaid Jeenah, Sherazaad Rahima Sylvester, and Sayed Ridhwaan Mohamed. 

The sixth respondent is unidentified protesters, and the seventh respondent is the PSC. 

 In response to IOL’s inquiry, Cape Union Mart's legal advisor, Simone Sulcas said  said the application was brought as a last resort after previous efforts to communicate the correct facts to protesters failed. 

“This follows ongoing protest action that has been underway since November 2023, which falsely claims that Cape Union Mart is ‘funding genocide', the Israeli army, the conflict in Gaza, and even advancing claims of complicity in the killing of children.”  

“Cape Union Mart, together with its Executive Chairman, Philip Krawitz, categorically state that they have never donated funds to the Israeli army or Israeli government. More specifically, Cape Union Mart has never donated funds to any entities outside of South Africa, and its Executive Chairman has only donated funds for humanitarian purposes,” Sulcas said. 

She said her client  does not seek an order preventing the protestors from expressing themselves.

“Cape Union Mart fully respects and upholds the rule of law that governs all South Africans, which includes freedom of expression and the right to protest.   However, this must be done without the continued spreading of defamatory falsehoods and with due regard to the rights of Cape Union Mart’s customers and the general public not to be harassed. A hearing date is yet to be set,” Sulcas said. 

 PSC member Usuf Chikte said the court action was an attempt was intended to intimidate and silence the campaign for justice, peace, freedom, and equality for Palestinians and represents a textbook SLAPP suit (a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) designed to suppress critical, peaceful voices through legal intimidation.

“PSC and other parties will be meeting urgently to discuss their response and pass a formal resolution on whether to defend against the application, which it views as a direct threat to constitutional rights, including our freedom of expression and freedom of association.

"This case arises amid increased public scrutiny of corporations and Cape Union Mart's silence and alleged complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza and follows growing calls by human rights organisations for corporate accountability and economic boycott of companies seen to be enabling Israeli apartheid,” Chikte said. 

 The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) said it supported the constitutional and internationally recognised right to a peaceful protest.

“Such legal maneuvers bear the hallmarks of SLAPP suits, which are widely condemned as antithetical to the values of transparency, accountability, and democratic participation,” it said. 

The organisation said the demonstrations were rooted in a clear ethical imperative to resist complicity in war crimes and genocide. 

“The individuals involved have conducted themselves with dignity and discipline. It is therefore unconscionable that litigation should be deployed as a means to delegitimise their principled stand or to shield commercial interest from public accountability,” the MJC said. 

Cape Times