ANC’s Dugmore demands public apology from DA
VETERAN ANC politician Cameron Dugmore has asked the DA in the Western Cape to retract statements that he incited public violence and land grabs in Hermanus before he takes further legal action.
Dugmore’s lawyers, Holmes Attorneys, said in a letter to DA Western Cape leader Bonginkosi Madikizela and DA Overstrand constituency head Masizole Mnqasela that there was no legal basis for their claims.
In April, Madikizela and Mnqasela visited Hermanus where violence over land had erupted. During that visit, Mnqasela reportedly took a photograph of a text conversation between Dugmore and ANC provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs, in which Dugmore purportedly said: “This is a campaign we must lead and drive in terms of our policies. We must also look at well-located private land and consider”.
Dugmore’s lawyers, however, say Madikizela threatened to refer a complaint to the provincial legislature’s ethics committee and lay criminal charges against him.
“Dugmore has not received formal notification from either the DA or the ethics committee confirming whether a complaint was referred. Although the DA has issued press statements confirming its intention to pursue criminal charges against Dugmore, he has not been contacted by the SAPS.”
The DA has laid charges of incitement to public violence and illegal occupation of public and private land against Dugmore for what the party called “his role in the unrest that resulted from the attempted land grabs in Hermanus”.
Mnqasela laid the charges at the Hermanus police station.
Lawyers for Dugmore also argued that he had become a victim of a social media slur and that his own property became a target for land invasions.
“As a consequence of the DA’s statement, Dugmore has been the victim of a social media slur campaign, in which he had been insulted and accused of criminal conduct.
“Details of his parents’ address have been shared on Facebook with an accompanying message by Mandi Kolnick that suggests that their property should be a target of a land grab.
“Dugmore’s parents are not involved in politics and there is no justification for making public his parents’ home address and violating their privacy,” the letter read.
Dugmore was sent to Hermanus on March 27 upon request of the ANC provincial leadership to try and restore calm to the area. He had to keep in contact with Jacobs and give feedback.
“The contents of Dugmore’s post are self explanatory. And while Dugmore may have urged the ANC to take urgent action to address the community’s concern, he did so within the bounds of the law. At no stage did Dugmore advocate violence or unlawful conduct,” his lawyers said.
Dugmore wants a public apology from the DA and it needs to be published in at least two major newspapers.
He also wants an undertaking from the DA that they will desists from making such comments again.
The DA is yet to respond to the letter.