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ActionSA has written to the IEC to formally investigate what appears to be the removal of ActionSA posters by individuals either contracted by the DA or operating to their benefit.

On the 23rd of September, a video was posted on X showing two individuals tampering with ActionSA posters whilst in the process of flighting DA ones. The video further shows what appears to be a newly affixed DA poster above an ActionSA poster lying on the curb, seemingly after having just been removed.

According to the Electoral Code of Conduct, in Section 72. (1) of the Local Government: Municipal Electoral Act, 2000:

"No person may deface or unlawfully remove any billboard, placard or poster published by a party or candidate for the purpose of an election."

We have asked the IEC to investigate the incident, as well as to ask the DA to explain what occurred.

The irony of this incident occurring on the same day the signing of the Electoral Code of Conduct should not be lost on anyone. The health of South Africa's democracy depends on parties keeping themselves to a set of standards when it comes to campaigning. When those set of standards appear to be broken, it becomes the mandate of bodies such as the IEC to ensure parties account.

Voters can be reassured that any poster removed by parties who feel their electoral majority threatened will be put back up, street by street, block by block. However, it is worth noting that this incident does not happen in a vacuum. The DA’s recent electoral court filings to disqualify ActionSA PR Council Candidates from the elections, resulting in their reallocation to other parties including the DA, demonstrates this poster removal reveal a deeper undercurrent in the DA. The party is clearly threatened, realising that its fake polls conducted by former and current employees have an expiry date on 4 November 2026 and that parties like ActionSA are gaining ground, and the DA’s only answer appears to be dirty tricks.

The City of Cape Town does not belong to the DA. It belongs to the voters who will judge it on its record on the 4th of November as the myth of DA governance is being exposed more and more across the country.

Issued by ActionSA