Trollip livid about ruined DA sign
ANC takes exception to being linked to vandalism of billboard in Motherwell
ADA campaign billboard in Motherwell, Port Elizabeth, has been vandalised and the party’s Nelson Mandela Bay mayoral candidate, Athol Trollip, has pointed fingers at the ANC.
Trollip said yesterday be- cause the ANC received less than 50% of the vote in the Bay in last year’s elections, it was “the most threatened party with the most to lose from the DA’s message”.
But he said later he did not have proof that the ANC was responsible for the sabotage.
“[I have] no proof. Neither did I say it was the ANC.
“I said they are most threatened and have the most to lose,” Trollip said.
The DA’s Vision 2029 message was displayed on the billboard.
A statement from Trollip said: “Photos show a DA Vision 2029 billboard being torn completely off its structure, the only billboard in the vicinity to be vandalised.
“The party launched a nationwide Vision 2029 campaign recently to inform South Africans of what our nation could achieve by 2029 with the DA at the centre of national government.
“The DA will not let opponents sidetrack our mission to bring good governance to the people of Nelson Mandela Bay.
“We will continue our investigation to ensure those responsible for the vandalism are brought to book, and we will be replacing the vandalised Vision 2029 billboards,” Trollip said.
ANC Eastern Cape secretary Oscar Mabuyane rubbished the claims, saying the ANC was preoccupied with governing South Africa, not with the DA’s posters and billboards.
“The DA must resist from loosely mentioning the ANC’s name thinking they are going to make themselves relevant or popular. We are calling on them to stop that.
“Freedom of speech means a lot to us and is part of the democratic dispensation that we brought about. We can’t be preoccupied with removing their posters or billboards.”
Mabuyane condemned the destruction of the DA billboard, saying the perpetrators should be brought to book as there was no place for hooliganism in South Africa.
“But we equally condemn the behaviour of the DA to loosely use the ANC and think they’ll gain political mileage.”