ANC denies MTN boycott call
The African National Congress (ANC) has not called on its members to boycott MTN, the spokesperson for the party, Jackson Mthembu has told MyBroadband.
Mthembu said he could only speak for the ANC, however, and not the ANC Youth League, or the ANC Veterans League.
This follows a strongly-worded statement issued today (4 June 2013) in which the Democratic Alliance (DA) accused the African National Congress (ANC) of using “bully-boy” tactics against mobile network operator MTN due to an advertising campaign the DA is running on MTN recharge vouchers.
A member of the DA in the office of the national spokesperson explained that they issued the statement due to an article in today’s Sowetan entitled “DA and ANC in airtime war” on the Sowetan Live website, and “DA goes mobile to reach voters” in the Sowetan print edition.
The article quoted ANC West Rand region chairman Mpho Nawa yesterday as saying that the ANC has to “engage its members not to support MTN” for supporting the DA.
According to the DA, they entered into a standard advertising agreement with MTN for the campaign. “It should be pointed out that this form of advertising is not only used on MTN airtime vouchers, but across the top three South African cellular networks,” the DA said.
The campaign reportedly involves the DA logo being printed on MTN airtime voucher slips along with information on how the DA was involved in the liberation of South Africa.
“The ANC’s call to boycott MTN is a clear sign that it is panicking about the DA’s growing support,” the DA statement said. “No amount of threats and intimidation will change the fact that more and more South Africans are choosing the DA over the ANC.”
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