The ANC in Gauteng has reacted with "concern" to the campaign in which the Democratic Alliance bought space on MTN and Vodacom airtime vouchers to promote the party's logo, history and manifesto.
The ruling party also called on MTN to disassociate itself from the DA and its campaign.
However, the DA is adamant there is nothing wrong with the campaign and it will not back down.
The DA's marketing campaign with the cellphone network giants will be rolled out as planned, according to the party. The DA said the ANC's claim that this is ambush marketing is a poor attempt at hijacking their campaign.
"If the ANC had thought of this campaign first, we would not have opposed it because we do not see any conflict when a party spends money on advertising whichever way they deem effective," said DA spokesperson Mmusi Maimane.
"We are in talks with Blue Label Telecoms [BL], the company that is facilitating the campaign, in order to make sure that everything runs as planned. MTN and Vodacom are still on board. We do not know what the furore is about."
Political beliefs and opinions
According to reports, MTN brand and communication general manager Ryan Gould distanced the company from the advertising, stating that it is not aware of this advertisement; therefore it is not sanctioned or endorsed by MTN South Africa.
MTN said distributors of airtime, who purchase the airtime pin from MTN but use their own paper to print, sell advertising space to recoup the paper costs. Maimane confirmed this is exactly how the campaign is being operated.
"We bought space to advertise, not MTN," said Maimane.
BLT, the firm that distributes vouchers on behalf of MTN and rival cellphone networks, has invited the ANC to use the same platform to advertise on the vouchers, but the ruling party has not responded to the invitation.
BLT also denied the rumours that they are pulling out of the campaign with the DA.
According to the Independent Electoral Commission, all political parties are free to make use of legal methods to campaign as long as they abide by the spirit of the electoral code of conduct. Spokesperson Kate Bapela said if any party had a complaint relating to the code of conduct, they can present it to the electoral court.
The IEC's code of conduct said every registered party and candidate must be free to express their political beliefs and opinions; and to publish and distribute election and campaign materials, including advertisements.
"What is prohibited is the intimidation of candidates and members of parties," said Bapela. She would not be drawn to comment specifically on the claims by the ANC that the DA campaign is ambush marketing.