Cape Town - The Cape Party said the “desperate” DA had lodged a complaint against it for failing to display the street address of the company responsible for printing the party’s posters.
“In a curious turn of events, the ruling party in the Western Cape has decided to invoke a minor technicality to have Cape Party posters removed from street lights across the Western Cape,” said Cape Party leader Jack Miller.
According to Miller, this was because the DA feared “a significant loss of support in the Western Cape on May 8”, when South Africa holds its provincial and national elections.
“The pettiness of this legal challenge, and other DA antics, suggest the DA is growing ever more desperate in their attempts to stifle opposition political parties,” said Miller.
He said a “misleading” SMS that had been sent to local residents urging them not to vote for small parties and fear mongering to scare voters into voting for the DA were further signs of the official opposition’s "desperate antics".
The DA had never before resorted to such “petty and desperate measures”, said Miller, adding that this was a sign that its support among voters in the Western Cape was being challenged by parties like the Cape Party.
In the DA’s complaint to the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) it mentioned the Cape Party’s posters on lampposts in the Western Cape, which according to the DA are non-compliant in terms of the act.
“The above-mentioned parties have erected posters in the Western Cape which do not contain the name and address of the printer and publisher,” said Ananda Nel, provincial managing director of the DA.