DA says Bell Pottinger apology not enough

The Democratic Alliance wants public relations firm Bell Pottinger to go beyond apologising and follow it up with action.

The UK firm said on Thursday that it had fired the lead partner involved in campaigns for Gupta-owned Oakbay Capital.

Another partner and two employees have been suspended after accusations that they had fuelled racial tensions in South Africa through their work for the Guptas.

The company also issued a "full‚ unequivocal and absolute apology to anyone impacted".

However‚ the DA said the apology did not go far enough and was "nothing but a PR-stunt brought on by the public pressure applied by the DA and the South African public".

"If this apology was to be taken seriously‚ the company would fully disclose all the dealings with the Gupta family and President Jacob Zuma‚" the party said on Thursday evening.

"More pertinently‚ they would commit to using all profits obtained from Gupta business deals to investing in building schools or any developmental non-government organizations in South Africa."

The DA said it would continue to pursue a complaint it has lodged against Bell Pottinger with the UK-based Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA)‚ which has given the company five days to respond to the allegations.