Intervention of dance troupe leader from South Africa leads group to officially end tradition of using black face paint and wearing skulls and horns

Lewes bonfire society members who were urged to stop painting their faces black complied on Saturday night, symbolically throwing a tin of black paint into the flames to mark the end of a tradition that had been dubbed racist.

The society agreed to stop using black face paint and wearing skulls and horns as part of its Zulu costumes – a practice that had been going on since at least the second world war.

The society’s chairman threw a mocked up can of “Zulux” black paint into a fire in Lewes High Street at around 1.30am, according to committee member Mick Symes, who said: “The debate is finished.”

The society acted after an ultimatum from Thanda Gumede, the leader of a dance troupe from Kwa Zulu-Natal, who said his group would not perform unless blacking-up stopped.

Gumede, 32, who lives in Leeds, said he was very pleased with the response and that it was “extremely emotional” to see the group responding to his concerns.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest An effigy of Donald Trump is paraded through the streets. Photograph: Reuters

He had urged society members to use face paint that was “drastically different from black”, and many used white and red instead. The woman who led the group used brown paint, which Gumede said he appreciated. He added that he was impressed by the some of the patterns used, which “look like the Xhosa tribe”.

He told the marchers that “skulls and horns make us look barbaric, the Zulu costume can be worn without them”. Some still marched with them, however, with the compromise reached at the last minute, Gumede said he understood they could not be removed from the elaborate headdresses in time.

“There’s a lot of work to do but this is a beautiful start and a great foundation,” he said.

Meanwhile, other societies marched with giant tableaux which included several effigies of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, one of Harvey Weinstein and another of Theresa May.

“What [the society] were able to achieve in such a short amount of time was beyond out expectations,” said a spokeswoman for Bonfire Against Racism, which started a petition signed by 1,600 people to stop the blacking up. “This one person painting their face brown is disappointing. It is not good enough. We appreciate what they have done but they need to realise this isn’t appropriate.”