The DA has refused to remove a billboard with the AI-generated image of Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi under a shower accompanied by the words: “The ANC showers in hotels. You have no water. Vote DA to put water in your taps.”
This comes after Lesufi during a media briefing on water challenges in the province last month said he sometimes had to go to a hotel and bath as he also experiences water challenges.
DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille said the party will not comply with the ANC’s 12-hour deadline to remove the billboard.
This follows a letter from legal representatives of the ANC addressed to the DA stating that the billboard was tarnishing the image of “their client”.
The billboard was unveiled on Tuesday in Mamelodi, where DA members Solly Msimanga, Zille and Cilliers Brink, accompanied by members, were on the ground to unveil it.
Msimanga said in a statement that the billboard is essential to tell Lesufi that it is unacceptable to show such contempt for the people of Gauteng. “No resident can afford to hire hotel rooms to get a shower because your failing government denies them water at home,” he said.
The billboard posted by the DA contains misleading, false information and an image intended to influence the voters and influence the election results
— Mongezi Ntanga, Ntanga Nkuhlu Attorneys
Acting on behalf of the ANC, Mongezi Ntanga from Ntanga Nkuhlu Attorneys said the AI image on the billboard was not authorised by Lesufi yet gives the impression that he gave consent for the use of his image by the DA.
“It is an unauthorised and deliberate use of the image of the premier that has been digitally manipulated to create the impression that he has co-operated with the DA to assist them to satirise his own political party at the expense of the people of SA who are struggling to access water, whilst the premier of Gauteng province has not given consent for use of his image by the DA.”
Ntanga said the billboard depicts that the ANC does not care about voters’ rights and is a contravention of the Electoral Act and the code of conduct.
“The billboard posted by the DA contains misleading, false information and an image intended to influence the voters and influence the election results.
“Our client has therefore instructed us to urgently demand the removal of the billboard, posting of content similar to the billboard, online publications, social media, your website and/or any other similar publication, be it [in] print or visual media, within 12 hours from this letter,” he said.
If the demand is not adhered to, they will approach the courts, Ntanga added.
However, Zille said the party will not comply with the demand, arguing that the billboard reflects comments previously made by Lesufi about the province’s water challenges.
“The ANC cannot cite any legal reason as to why the billboard should be removed. Instead, it suggests that the image is demeaning to Lesufi and tarnishes his reputation. We would like to reassure the ANC that there is nothing that the DA can do to tarnish Mr Lesufi’s reputation more than he has done already,” she said.
The DA will not meet the ANC’s deadline and instead urged the premier to prioritise addressing the water crisis, she said.
“We understand that the truth hurts. However, the DA will not be meeting the ANC’s 12-hour deadline to remove our billboard.”
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