The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Athol Trollip said that Zizi Kodwa’s repeated allegations of “human abuse violations” are “proof of how politically weak” the African National Congress (ANC) is in Nelson Mandela Bay.Kodwa‚ who made similar allegations a month ago‚ again did not elaborate on the workers’ complaints‚ but instead claimed: “It is also disturbing that some of these allegations border on outright racism where people are likened to ‘baboons’.”He previously said the farmworkers had shown the ANC written statements about their treatment on the Bedford farm between 2005 and 2010.Trollip‚ the DA’s mayoral candidate for the coastal municipality‚ countered on Tuesday morning: “Having sold my family farm in 2005‚ the timing of these false allegations is suspicious‚ months prior to an election.“These false allegations are obviously as a result of the ANC’s increasing vulnerability and weakness.”“It is the ANC that has manufactured these allegations by abusing the vulnerability of workers in order to produce fabricated statements against me and my family.”The ANC’s Keith Khoza on Tuesday‚ however‚ said there was nothing untoward about the timing of the statement‚ and contended that the party was merely assisting the farmworkers and had advised them to lodge complaints at the HRC.Khoza said the ANC baulked at getting “directly involved as it did not want to politicise the issue”.Trollip also took issue with Kodwa’s “call on Trollip and his family to stop intimidating the complainants”‚ saying: “Since these false allegations first surfaced I have not had any contact with nor spoken to any of the farm workers‚ which is contrary to what the ANC has been doing in various manifestations.”“The SAHRC has to date not contacted me about any charges.”Trollip added that he has “already taken action in this regards against ANC councillor Lawrence Troon by suing him in the high court for defamation for having instigated and coordinated the preparation of similar false statements late last year”.“The Trollip family and myself pride ourselves and our reputation of non-racism and fair treatment of all people‚” he said.“This whole matter is a political ploy and is clearly the last desperate attempt by the ANC who sees its support in marked decline.”Source: TMG Digital..