Non-profit organisation Proudly South African has accused the Democratic Alliance of illegally using its logo in an advertisement in the Sunday Times over the weekend.<\/p>\n
“Proudly South African\u201a the buy local advocacy campaign\u201a distances itself 100% from the advert seen in The Sunday Times newspaper and on Twitter on 2 July in which the Democratic Alliance made illegal use of its logo\u201a” the organisation said in a statement.<\/p>\n
“The Proudly South African logo is a registered trade mark and as such cannot be used without the organisation\u2019s permission. Proudly South African is a non-partisan\u201a non-political, not-for-profit organisation\u201a and as such will never align itself with any political party or message.”<\/p>\n
The organisation noted that it had\u00a0contacted the Democratic Alliance directly and demanded that they issue a public apology themselves on all the same platforms on which they published the advert.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was a flagrant mis-use of a legally protected trade mark, incorporated into a political advert and designed to mislead the public into thinking that Proudly South African in some way endorses the Democratic Alliance\u2019s stance and views, which is not the case and we cannot let this go lightly without distancing ourselves from this and any other political campaign,” said Proudly SA CEO, Eustace Mashimbye.<\/p>\n