The Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Thursday it will not be meeting the African National Congress’ (ANC’s) 12-hour deadline to remove the party's billboard that plays on recent remarks made by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi.

Instead the party encouraged Lesufi to rather act against the water crisis in the province with the same level of urgency displayed in opposing its billboard.

Last month, Lesufi sparked public outrage after saying he often had to shower at a hotel because of water outages.

The ANC has written to the DA demanding the removal of the billboard, which was unveiled in Tshwane on Tuesday. The ANC has threatened legal action against the DA if the billboard does not come down in 12 hours.

DA Federal Council chairperson and Johannesburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille said the DA’s billboard reveals the “truth” facing Gauteng residents: “The ANC showers in hotels. You have no water. Vote DA to put water in your taps.”

Zille pointed out that the ANC had not cited any legal reason as to why the billboard should be removed and instead merely protested that the image was demeaning to Lesufi and tarnished his reputation.

“To the extent that the image is demeaning to Lesufi, that is because it reveals the truth of what the Premier said, and the water crisis that the ANC has created. It is nowhere near as demeaning as Lesufi’s comments must be to Gauteng residents, when he implied that he knows their suffering because he must shower in fancy hotels.

“For the rest of us who cannot afford to pop in for a quick rinse down at the nearest boutique hotel, we continue to suffer the real consequences of the ANC’s service delivery failures,” said Zille.

INTERVENTIONS

Meanwhile, the party has identified the ongoing water challenges as a governance failure driven by financial mismanagement and lack of transparency.

The DA has launched legal proceedings against the City of Johannesburg to force the implementation of existing approved water infrastructure plans.

The party has also demanded that Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina relax Rand Water abstraction licences, allowing more water to be moved from the Vaal Dam into the national system.

The DA has also called for municipal councils to urgently ring-fence water and sanitation revenue to ensure funds are used for infrastructure upgrades and not diverted for use elsewhere in municipalities.