DA councillor tells voters to 'wash Zuma out of their hair' in traffic light campaign
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has distanced itself from an ad campaign by one its Cape Town councillors‚ encouraging voters to "wash Zuma out their hair". Photographs of the traffic light promotion surfaced on social media sites on Monday. In them a bottle of Pantene conditioner is pictured with a DA sticker wrapped across it. Also attached to the bottle is a note saying‚ “Wash Zuma right out of your hair! Vote DA on Wednesday 3rd August”. Giving the party's official stance on the ad‚ DA press office manager Samkelo Mgobozi said: “That is an isolated gimmick confined to one councillor in the City of Cape Town and is by no means something being rolled out by the party.” But the man behind the promotion‚ DA councillor Ian Iverson‚ says he believes it is a brilliant initiative that has been received well in his constituency.Iverson funded the campaign and said it has been running in Cape Town's southern suburbs for the past month‚ with the most recent installation on Monday.“We've said wash Zuma right out of your hair. People loved it. We did it in our blue waves (wards)‚ handing out [promotional material] at traffic lights‚” Iverson said.The promotion also distributed bars of soap carrying the message‚ “DA = clean government”‚ and whistles‚ asking citizens to‚ “Blow the whistle on Zuma”.Iverson said that about 1‚000 bottles of Pantene were handed out this past month‚ costing about R3‚000. They were purchased at a wholesaler in Athlone‚ Cape Town called Mr Cheap.“It's all cheap stuff. If we paid R2‚000 and reached 3‚000 people‚ it's worthwhile."Iverson‚ whose ward is located near the University of Cape Town‚ said he hoped the African National Congress was amused by his campaigning efforts.Chairperson of the DA's federal council‚ James Selfe‚ said that as far as he can see Iverson's campaign does not violate any of the party's internal codes of conduct."Councillors are more than welcome to employ mechanisms to garner support‚" Mgobozi said.Iverson has been in local government since 1984‚ when he was an independent candidate.Procter & Gamble‚ owner of the Pantene brand‚ has been approached for comment...
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