The African National Congress (ANC) on Wednesday denied distributing fake Democratic Alliance (DA) pamphlets in Mpumalanga.
”An investigation into allegations that the ANC was involved in the distribution of fake Democratic Alliance pamphlets in Mpumalanga has proven to the contrary,” said the ANC in a statement.
The DA issued a statement last month alleging that Ntombikayise Jeanette Mahlangu, the ANC candidate in the by-elections for Mpumalanga’s Ward 4 in the Steve Tshwete Municipality, distributed a pamphlet made to look like it came from the DA.
Written in English and Afrikaans it read: ”Help the DA to claim what has been stolen from you. Helen Zille is asking for a few minutes of your time to contribute to change. Now that the ANC has split, we have a real opportunity to get into government in provinces all over South Africa. We can’t do it without your help.
”It’s a call to every white in South Africa and abroad. If you have a club/society, church or a community organisation, bring them along, we have funds available to finance you so that we together can make it happen.
”So far we’ve managed to get Cope and Independent Democrats on our side for our usage. What are you waiting for, try by all means to convince your domestic worker to vote for DA. We need everyone on board to stop Jacob Zuma’s ANC from getting a two-thirds majority in 2009.”
DA spokesperson Anthony Benadie said: ”In the pamphlet, the DA is portrayed as a racist party, claiming that the DA wants to bring back the days of ‘permits’, in order to fight the ‘Swart Gevaar’.
”The pamphlet ends with the words ‘Warning: Do not show this pamphlet to your maids and garden boys … we need their votes,” he said in a statement on February 23. He said the statement had been distributed the previous Friday.
During the ANC’s probe, Mahlangu and members of the party’s local election team were interviewed. All denied involvement in either production or distribution of the pamphlet.
”They deposed affidavits to that effect.”
The party said the outcome of the investigation had been communicated to the DA’s national party liaison committee representative, Mike Moriarty, and copied to Independent Electoral Commission chief electoral officer Pansy Tlakula.
”We are satisfied that Ms Mahlangu was not involved in the alleged distribution of the pamphlet. Should you have any further information regarding this matter, we would appreciate if you could share such information with us,” read the investigation’s report. — Sapa