Zille must apologise, demands ANC
2013-01-23 11:53
Johannesburg - The ANC and its Women's League have demanded an apology from DA leader Helen Zille, accusing her of lying
about not knowing that Telkom sponsored a The New Age breakfast briefing she attended.
"It is the view of the ANC that on numerous occasions
Helen Zille has been found wanting when it comes to telling the truth,"
spokesperson Jackson Mthembu said in a statement on Wednesday.
"She has been masquerading as a so-called 'voice of
reason' whilst she has been distorting the truth and misleading the
public."
The Democratic Alliance said it would study the African
National Congress's statement and respond later.
Breakfast funding
On Monday, Zille pulled out of a New Age Business Breakfast
following reports that the event was funded with public money. She said she and
other senior DA officials had previously spoken at the breakfast under the
assumption that it was funded by The New Age and members of the public who
bought tickets to attend.
"Now that it has come to light that the breakfasts are
funded by public money via the SOEs [state-owned enterprises] to the tune of
millions of rand, the DA cannot continue to participate."
In a statement explaining her decision, Zille said she
pulled out after reading an article in City Press newspaper, in which it
reported that Eskom, Telkom and Transnet spent millions on the sessions, while
the SABC broadcast them free of charge.
"These breakfasts must be very profitable for the New
Age, which is owned by the Gupta family, who are in turn vocal supporters and
funders of the ANC and President Jacob Zuma.
"It is not acceptable or defensible for public money to
be used to bankroll a privately owned newspaper, and indirectly the coffers of
the ANC."
Asked during an interview with Eyewitness News whether she
had thanked Telkom at a previous New Age business breakfast, in which she
participated, Zille told EWN she could not recall doing so.
"I cannot personally recall thanking anybody... but it
was a very long time ago and I have many, many engagements every day," she
said.
'True deceitful nature'
On Tuesday, The New Age released a video clip on its website
of Zille thanking Telkom for sponsoring a New Age business breakfast in Cape
Town in February last year.
Mthembu said: "Her [Zille's] lies bring into question
the extent to which South Africans can take the Democratic Alliance seriously.
This is proof that the DA cannot be trusted."
The ANCWL said Zille had revealed her "true deceitful
nature".
"It is disgusting that the leader of the opposition can
lie to the public with such ease, making such contradictory statements barely a
year later when Zille released a statement denying she had any knowledge of who
was sponsoring the event," ANCWL spokesperson Troy Martens said in a
statement.
She said it had never been a secret who sponsored the
breakfasts.
"It is a shame that Zille is trying to discredit these
revolutionary and progressive sessions with her lies and deceit, irresponsibly
acting as some kind of victim."
- SAPA
