Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen said of the Democratic Party's move: SABC Not airing DA election ads is politically motivated. Mr Steenhuisen was speaking in Makushane, Phalaborwa, Limpopo province, during the party's election campaign.
The ad depicts the South African flag on fire.
Mr Steenhuisen said the move was also influenced by the ANC and was contrary to the right to free speech.
The Democratic Alliance's election campaign was in full swing at Makshane Tribal Hall in Phalaborwa.
Steenhuizen was welcomed by some residents and DA supporters. He was invited by residents who say the village needs change.
He says the people of Phalaborwa have been forgotten.
“This is an area where there is a huge unemployment problem. And obviously we want to share a message of hope and change. When we launched the campaign, we wanted to take our message to rural South Africa. And so we were in Soweto yesterday, we're here in Phalaborwa, and we're going to continue to bring hope and change to both of us in the coming weeks. We will take the message to every corner of the country. We were asked to get as many votes as possible into the ballot box on election day. And since politics is a contact sport, we were asked to do so, especially by voters on the ground. It means we have to join voters in places that have long been forgotten by the ruling party,” says Steenhuisen.
Steenhuisen also said: SABCThe party's decision not to air its election campaign advertisement depicting the burning South African flag is politically motivated. He said the move was influenced by ANC members President Cyril Ramaphosa and Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gigi Kodwa.
Steenhuisen said the party will continue legal action against the public broadcaster as other stations are airing the ad.
“Well, our lawyers are busy drafting a letter to them. We have informed them that they have a few days to change their decision. If not. , we will seek a review of that judgment in the High Court,” he says.
The Democratic Party leader said his party was prepared to take the fight all the way to the Constitutional Court.
“As I said, we are prepared to take this all the way to the Constitutional Court because this is an important constitutional principle about freedom of expression, freedom of political thought and freedom of speech. We had the same issue last time. You may remember the distributed SMS, but the ruling in that case held that political speech must be protected and that political parties must be allowed to send messages. “It wasn't,” he added.
of SABC The company said it had informed the regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa), that it would no longer broadcast the ad. The public broadcaster said it believed the ad was contributing to the damage to a valuable national symbol.
Meanwhile, some residents in Makushane, Phalaborwa state say the DA is their last hope of being able to provide services in their area.
“I think the police could do better in rescuing us, the residents of Ba Phalaborwa. The ruling government here is taking advantage of the local population. They are not considering the consequences for themselves. . They do not consider them people with human rights and they are constantly oppressed, ”says the resident.
The Phalaborwa region has seen protests against service delivery in recent years. Residents say they believe the DA will bring about change after the May 29 general election.
2024 Elections | Mr Steenhuisen says SABC's rejection of DA ad is political.
