The DA in the Western Cape will today lay an official complaint against the so-called GOOD party with the IEC.
This follows the party blatantly spreading false information to score cheap political points regarding the City of Cape Town passing amendments to by-laws yesterday.
It would appear that the only thing De Lille and Herron’s party is GOOD at, is lying.
GOOD blatantly and intentionally sought to spread false information by claiming that the City of Cape Town criminalised the Islamic call to prayer and homeless persons. All this as part of their election campaigning.
The DA-run government in Cape Town has never and will never criminalise the call to prayer nor have we or will we criminalise homeless persons in the City.
We strongly condemn GOOD’s abhorrent misinformation during their campaigning and call on the IEC to take strong and urgent action against GOOD and Brett Herron in terms of the Electoral Act.
Section 89(2)(b) and (c) in Part 1 of the Electoral Act specifically deals with intentional false statements. This Section states that no person may publish any false information with the intention of:
a. disrupting or preventing an election
b. creating hostility or fear in order to influence the conduct or outcome of an election
It is an offence for any person to contravene any provision in Part 1 of the Act and they are subject to penalty as set out in Section 98(a), which includes a fine or imprisonment. The IEC should do what is right and sanction GOOD.
We welcome the action taken by the Mayor of Cape Town, Dan Plato, to engage with leaders in the Muslim community in order to set the record straight about GOOD’s cheap and shameful politicking.
The amendment to the Streets by-law does not silence mosques nor does it criminalise homeless persons.
Under the new by-laws, the City’s Law Enforcement must offer shelter to people living on the streets before enforcing the law against sleeping in public places. In addition to this, Cape Town continues to offer a wide and progressive range of social assistance to the poor and vulnerable in the City.
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