The truth hurts, says Zille as DA refuses to meet ANC’s 12-hour deadline on billboard removal

The DA has refused to remove a billboard with the AI-generated image ofGauteng premier Panyaza Lesufiunder a shower accompanied by the words: “TheANC showers in hotels. You have no water. Vote DA to put water in your taps.” This comes after Lesufi during a media briefing on water challenges in the province last month said he sometimes had to go to a hotel and bath as he also experiences water challenges.

DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille said the party will not comply with the ANC’s 12-hour deadline to remove the billboard. This follows a letter from legal representatives of the ANC addressed to the DA stating that the billboard was tarnishing the image of “their client”. The billboard was unveiled on Tuesday in Mamelodi, where DA members Solly Msimanga, Zille and Cilliers Brink, accompanied by members, were on the ground to unveil it.

Msimanga said in a statement that the billboard is essential to tell Lesufi that it is unacceptable to show such contempt for the people of Gauteng. “No resident can afford to hire hotel rooms to get a shower because your failing government denies them water at home,” he said. The billboard posted by the DA contains misleading, false information and an image intended to influence the voters and influence the election results Acting onbehalf of the ANC, Mongezi Ntanga from Ntanga Nkuhlu Attorneys said the AI image on the billboard was not authorised by Lesufi yet gives the impression that he gave consent for the use of his image by the DA.

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“It is an unauthorised and deliberate use of the image of the premier that has been digitally manipulated to create the impression that he has co-operated with the DA to assist them to satirise his own political party at the expense of the people of SA who are struggling to access water, whilst the premier of Gauteng province has not given consent for use of his image by the DA.” Ntanga said the billboard depicts that the ANC does not care about voters’ rights and is a contravention of the Electoral Act and the code of conduct. “The billboard posted by the DA contains misleading, false information and an image intended to influence the voters and influence the election results.

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