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Lawyers acting for the IEC have instructed incumbent Johannesburg Mayor and ANC Mayoral Candidate, Parks Tau, to respond to the DA’s complaint against him by close of business today.

On 8 July, the DA laid a complaint with the IEC against Parks Tau for abusing City funds to shamelessly advertise himself and the ANC.

The City of Joburg, has tried to rubbish our complaint as falling within its responsibility to, “inform residents of progress towards fulfilling its mandate”, but this is a blatant distortion of the truth and an attempt to misinform the public.

The basis of our complaint is a radio advertisement paid for by the City of Johannesburg, which reads as follows:

“A great city like Joburg deserves great leadership, so it’s good to know that Joburg executive mayor, counsellor Parks Tau, was recently nominated as an African candidate for the United Cities and Local Government co-Presidency and the MEC for Health and Social Development was elected Vice President of the Network for Locally Elected Women of Africa, an Integral part of United Cities and Local Governance Africa. Clearly the city of Joburg is in good hands. Joburg, a world class African city.”

This is clearly an excessive and gratuitous depiction of an office bearer of the City, and clearly creates a perception that the advertisement promotes the Mayor as an individual.

It has absolutely nothing to do with informing Johannesburg residents of any progress made by the City towards fulfilling its mandate.

The DA will not stand by idly while Tau and his ANC cronies waste tax-payers’ money on self-promotion and threaten the fairness of the upcoming elections.

The electoral Code of Conduct states that:

“No person may, abuse a position of power, privilege or influence, including parental, patriarchal, traditional or employment authority to influence the conduct or outcome of an election”.

By spending public money on party political propaganda, Mr Tau is abusing his position in an attempt to influence the outcome of this election.

We eagerly await the response of Parks Tau, who must be held to account for flagrant abuse of City funds and infringement of the electoral Code of Conduct.

Should the IEC fail to take strong action against Tau, the DA will consider its legal options against Mayor Tau, as well as the IEC, in the interest of upholding the Code of Conduct, the Constitution, and South Africa’s hard-won democracy.

Millions of Rand have been spent on newspaper adverts, billboards, and radio adverts over the past four months in an attempt to prop up Tau’s administration.

This excessive and wasteful expenditure comes in the wake of disastrous failures by the ANC-run City to create jobs, stop corruption, and ensure quality service delivery to all.

For too long, the ANC has broken its promises and lost the trust of the people of Johannesburg.

I call on the people of Johannesburg to see through the ANC’s blatant lies and punish them on 3 August.

It is time to bring an end to the ANC’s arrogance and their unashamed misuse of your money.

I pledge to never abuse your trust and misuse your money. Under a DA administration the residents and businesses of Johannesburg will be put ahead of self-interest, patronage and corruption.

Together, we can make Johannesburg a city of golden opportunities.

On 3 August, vote for change that will move Johannesburg forward.

Issued by DA