South Africa’s leading advertising industry bodies have condemned conduct that “undermines the dignity, safety or professional standing of others” following the circulation of a video on social media, as Avatar confirmed that co-chief creative officer, Veli Ngubane, has stepped down with immediate effect.
In a joint statement, the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA), the Creative Circle and the IAB South Africa said they were aware of the video and reiterated that there is “no place in our industry” for behaviour that falls short of professional and ethical standards.
“Our industry is built on creativity, collaboration and trust. Those values can only flourish in an environment where people treat one another with respect and uphold the highest standards of professional and ethical conduct,” the organisations said.
The industry bodies added that leadership carries a responsibility to model professionalism, integrity and respect, and reaffirmed their commitment to promoting an advertising and communications industry free from harassment, discrimination and abuse.
The TikTok video was taken at the Cannes Festival of Creativity in June when two American delegates, Coco Bassey and her sister Kay, encountered Ngubane after a session.
What they thought was an informal chat between professionals attending Cannes degenerated into sexual innuendo and inappropriate comments about their looks. The women began filming the incident as they became increasingly uncomfortable.
Shortly after the TikTok video went viral, and News24 published the story, Avatar announced that Ngubane had stepped down from his role as co-chief creative officer, effective immediately.
Meanwhile, women in the media industry have spoken out. Communications agency owner, Cheryl Reddy, says, “This isn’t a women’s issue or a men’s issue. It’s a leadership issue. It’s a culture issue. It’s a human issue.”
She said the events of this past week had left her “reflecting on something much bigger than one individual or one company”.
“What concerns me most is not just the incident itself, but how familiar the conversation feels. For too long, many people have remained silent. We normalised quietly moving on instead of speaking up. We have accepted racism, sexism, victimisation and bias as reasons to leave a workplace rather than reasons to challenge a workplace,” said Reddy.
“So here I am, feeling proud of every person who found the courage to speak up for themselves and continue to do so. I wasn’t brave enough to speak my truth, and I know I’m not the only one.”
As another woman said commenting on Reddy’s LinkedIn post, “I don’t know if there is a woman in the creative industry that has not experienced something similar…”
Meanwhile, Avatar founder and group CEO Zibusiso Mkhwanazi said in a statement, “Avatar holds all of its people to the highest standards of professional conduct. We do not tolerate behaviour that falls short of those standards, and we act when it does.”
