Cape Town - The DA is considering legal action against the Western Cape ANC for allegedly spreading “false information” on the over-recovery on water tariffs.
Provincial ANC elections head, Ebrahim Rasool, is accused of making false statements defamatory to the DA.
DA spokesperson Mabine Seabe said: “As the DA we are considering our legal options.
“Our next steps will be determined by a legal opinion from our lawyers.
“It is unacceptable for a political party, namely the failing ANC, to cross the line between robust political campaigning and telling complete lies. The IEC (Electoral Commission of South Africa) and the Electoral Court have a role in protecting voters from liars and looters,” Seabe added.
On March 24, the DA lodged a complaint with the IEC. The complaint is over statements that Rasool published in the Cape Argus where he puts it as a fact that “the DA made a profit of R1billion on water bills”.
In the letter to the IEC, the lawyers argued: “The factual statement made, that the DA received a R1bn, is not only false and defamatory but is equally misleading with the intention to impress on the reader that the DA is corrupt and steals municipal funds for own gain.”
Rasool in his response said: “The criticism levelled at the DA, who leads the administration of the City of Cape Town, is warranted and draws much needed attention to this abusive practice making the City of Cape Town too expensive for the majority of its citizens.”
In response to the DA’s complaint, Nilan Rampershad, from IEC’s legal service department, sent a letter to the party’s attorney.
In it Rampershad said: “The Directorate of Electoral Offences is of the firm view that the conduct against which your client complained of was not one of an administrative nature as required by the Electoral Commission Act.”
He said the conduct was rather of an interpretive nature.
“The commission is of the view that the nature of the conduct complained against can only be adjudicated by the court of law as it would be best placed to make a determination on the alleged violation of the provisions of both the Electoral Act and the code,” the letter stated.
ANC provincial spokesperson Dennis Cruywagen said: “We have submitted our response to the IEC and are awaiting the outcome. Any further process will be vigorously defended.
“The DA owes the people of Cape Town the truth.”