Advert that angered Mandela’s grandson viewed '100,000 times'

05 July 2016 - 14:52 By TMG Digital

The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Tuesday boasted that its #VoteForChange election advert “received more than 100 000 views across Facebook and YouTube” in two days. The party’s claim about the advert’s reach comes after Chief Mandla Mandela accused it of abusing his late grandfather’s legacy as former president Nelson Mandela’s voice is used in the campaign.“We demand that the DA immediately withdraws this advertisement‚ and that the IEC take the necessary steps to prevent this and future violations of the electoral code‚” Mandla‚ an African National Congress (ANC) MP‚ told Daily Dispatch on Monday.The DA statement on Tuesday again invoked the late statesman’s name when it described the ad as “the personal story of a voter in South Africa who draws on the memory of Nelson Mandela and the ideals which he fought for before casting her ballot for the DA”.“The ANC’s criticism of the advert goes against the very ideals which Nelson Mandela himself stood for‚” said DA spokesperson Refiloe Nt'sekhe.“uTata Madiba is our country’s national icon. As our nation’s first democratic president‚ his legacy‚ and the important democratic principles which he fought for‚ belong to all South Africans.”Nt'sekhe added that the “DA is the only party that is today realising Nelson Mandela’s legacy”.Mandla Mandela said if the DA wished to invoke history‚ it should use the voices of Tony Leon‚ Helen Zille and Mmusi Maimane.“We are disgusted by the flagrant abuse of former President Nelson Mandela by the Democratic Alliance which is using his voice in an election advertisement broadcast on YouTube‚” he said.“The desperate lengths to which the DA will stoop to dupe voters is condemned in the strongest terms.”TMG Digital..

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