The Democratic Alliance has undertaken not to distribute a pamphlet which makes out that Trevor Manuel wants people not to vote for the ANC, the ANC’s legal department said on Thursday.
“We have received communication from our lawyers … The DA undertakes not to distribute the pamphlet in question,” said Siyabonga Mahlangu, from the ANC’s legal and monitoring team.
The DA also denied that the pamphlet was an “official DA statement” or an “official DA communique”, he said.
DA spokesperson Lindiwe Mazibuko could not immediately be reached for comment. However, earlier this week, the DA denied distributing the pamphlet.
The document was allegedly distributed by DA members in two areas, with wording almost identical to that of a DA statement issued earlier this year.
Manuel laid criminal charges against the DA at the Johannesburg central police station on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the ANC lodged an application with the Electoral Court to “restrain” the DA from distributing the document, then served papers on the party.
“I think this is a victory for the ANC … that the DA’s undertaken not to distribute the pamphlets,” Mahlangu said.
The introductory paragraph of the pamphlet reads: “Trevor Manuel is telling South Africans not to vote ANC [because] the ANC is unaccountable, racist, corrupt and a party that has failed to deliver to the poor.”
The pamphlet continues: “He has told South Africans why they should not vote ANC on May 18.
“He has told South Africans that the ANC is at war with itself and cannot deliver.
“The time has come for voters to choose a party that is united and committed to service delivery — the Democratic Alliance.”
While it did not bear any DA branding, the ANC said it had obtained an affidavit from a Moroka resident who saw a man wearing a DA t-shirt distributing the pamphlet.
It had a similar affidavit from a Strydenburg resident.
“The DA must account for its fraudulent and irresponsible act of peddling and spreading malicious falsehoods about the ANC and comrade Trevor before a court of law,” ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said in a statement.
“The law enforcement agencies must indeed investigate this matter thoroughly and swiftly bring the perpetrators to justice,” he said. — Sapa