South African police Saturday intervened to clear protesters trashing outlets of Swedish clothing giant Hennes and Mauritz in Johannesburg over a controversial advertisement of a black child. A photo on the company's online website of a black boy wearing a green hoodie with the inscription "coolest monkey in the jungle" had triggered outrage on social media and among observers worldwide.
The company has pulled the photograph but the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) - a radical group set up by the expelled head of the youth wing of the ruling African National Congress - organised protests at several H&M outlets in and around Johannesburg. Video footage showed activists trashing displays, kicking over and pulling down clothes rails as well as pushing over mannequins.