Johannesburg - African National Congress Gauteng premier David Makhura has revealed in a reply to a Democratic Alliance question in the legislature that his office cumulatively spent over R5.1 million on Gupta-owned media, the DA said on Sunday.
"In the past six years, the premier's office spent R4.7 million on advertising in The New Age and spent over R460,000 between the period of May 2015 to August 2016 alone," DA Gauteng leader and MPL John Moodey said.
"The ANC in Gauteng would like to distance themselves from the national ANC and the Guptas, yet continue to fund their propaganda newspaper and broadcast channels," he said.
The office of the premier’s entire advertising budget was well over R127 million for the past seven years. The premier’s "propaganda machinery is hard at work painting a glossy image of a premier hard at work". However, the reality on the ground was a completely different story.
Instead of spending millions on unnecessary advertising on projects and programmes which were freely available, the premier chose to prop up his public image. It was a shame that the premier needed to spend millions on "vanity projects when action could speak louder than a couple of A5 print pieces and billboards", Moodey said.
The DA in Gauteng would continue to monitor spending trends with regards to advertising and the ANC Gauteng’s close links with Gupta media.
"It is our hope that many more South Africans will open their eyes and truly see the ANC for what it is, a failed organisation under threat. There is no difference between the ANC in Gauteng and the national ANC; they are working together to protect President Jacob Zuma and his corrupt cronies, the Guptas," Moodey said.