Cape Town | Sunday
THE Democratic Alliance (DA), which has been accused of receiving money from fugitive billionaire Jurgen Harksen, on Sunday accused the African National Congress (ANC) and Independent Newspapers of blowing the issue out of proportion while they themselves had accepted financial favours from the German in the past.
This follows allegations, vehemently denied by Cape Town Unicity mayor Gerald Morkel and the DA that either he or the party had received millions of rands in donations from Harksen.
The allegations, first published earlier in the week by the Independent Newspaper’s title the Cape Times prompted a meeting of the DA’s federal council. The council subsequently issued a statement in which the party said it believed the relationship between Morkel and Harksen was inappropriate, but not illegal or corrupt.
Attacking both the media group, which is the largest newspaper publisher in South Africa, and the ANC, DA representative Nick Clelland-Stokes said their responses smacked of hypocrisy.
”It is simply unarguable that allegations of impropriety against the DA or DA public representatives receive massive coverage and editorial comment, while much more serious allegations against the ANC receive little coverage and less comment,” he said.
Clelland-Stokes quoted a Mail&Guardian newspaper report of 1997 in which Harksen claimed to have given the ANC R100 000. He alleged Harksen attended a Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund event hosted by then president Mandela at his official Cape Town residence.
He also charged that in May 1997 the Cape Times took thousands of rands from Harksen in the form of a full-page advertisement.
”Presumably, the newspaper’s justification is that Harksen has never been convicted of any crime – a consideration that it should bear in mind before choosing to sensationalise these latest allegations.”
Clelland-Stokes claimed the party had learnt from an Independent Newspapers journalist that none of the publisher’s titles would print the fact the Cape Times had taken Harksen’s money.
Cape Times editor Chris Whitfield told the South African Press Association (Sapa) on Sunday afternoon that the paper did run an advertisement by Harksen in May 1997.
”I wasn’t the editor at the time, but I spoke to him about it. He was not made aware of the ad and was extremely angry when he found out about it.
”He took it up with the advertising department and put procedures in place so that it could not happen again,” said Whitfield.
Whitfield said the newspaper was approached by Harksen at the beginning of this year for another advertisement, but the paper refused to publish it.
He said the DA was extremely nave if it believed that their mayor’s association with a fugitive was not a news story.
”It’s the classic case of attacking the messenger. They clearly learnt well from the old National Party,” Whitfield said.
Cape Town mayor Gerald Morkel was on Sunday elected a deputy chairman of the Democratic Alliance despite the shadow of his alleged involvement with Harksen.
On Wednesday, the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court ordered that Harksen be extradited after the German consented and waived his right to appeal. -Sapa