Cape Town - ANC provincial secretary Neville Delport has accused DA provincial leader and Infrastructure MEC Tertuis Simmers of the “unethical use of state resources” during the by-election campaign for ward 20, Borchards, in George.
The DA has rejected the allegations and said the ANC was running scared.
The party said in a statement: “We ran a robust and thorough campaign in the months leading up to this week. Our vigour has left opposition parties anxious and scrambling to find fault.”
Delport alleged that on Saturday, Simmers drove a vehicle belonging to the George Municipality’s traffic service during a DA campaign motorcade ahead of tomorrow’s three by-elections in the municipality.
Delport, who shared a screen grab from a video allegedly of Simmers driving the vehicle, said: “These are resources meant to be used for the safety of the public, not for party-political work.
“The DA’s use of traffic vehicles on a campaign trail is a clear abuse of state power. These latest shenanigans are a clear indication that they have no respect for the rule of law or for the rules of elections.”
Delport urged the Electoral Commission (IEC) and the Premier to investigate the allegations: “We call for an urgent investigation into Simmers’ conduct. If found guilty, he should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Meanwhile, GOOD Party secretary-general and MP Brett Herron accused the DA of voter registration fraud in the by-election.
Herron said GOOD had reported a list of names of residents of Thembalethu, where there is no by-election, who had been fraudulently re-registered as residents of Borchards to the IEC.
Herron said: “The IEC’s chief electoral officer has confirmed receipt of our complaint and supporting affidavits and has referred the matter to the commissioners whose primary obligation is to ensure that elections are conducted freely and fairly.”
Reached for comment, Simmers laughed off the ANC allegations and said his initial reaction to them was amusement.
Simmers said: “The ANC’s video evidence shows me on a DA-branded bakkie next to Premier Winde, waving at the very (same) former ANC councillor recording the footage, as I have known her since 2011.
“I know that the ANC is flabbergasted by the DA’s ability, but driving a vehicle from the back of another vehicle is beyond my powers.”
Simmers said he had never driven any George municipal vehicle. “It would be illegal. I do not expect ANC cadres to immediately grasp the concept of legal and illegal activities.”
He said the DA ran a robust and thorough campaign in the months leading up to this week’s polls, and opposition parties had been left anxious and scrambling to find fault.
Regarding GOOD’s complaints to the IEC in George, Simmers said party agents would have the opportunity to raise any concerns after the polls have closed and before counting starts tomorrow evening.
“Our canvassing in George has shown that voters are not open to being paid off or scared into voting for smaller parties in the Western Cape.”
