ANC’s water-tanker billboard court battle against DA postponed

eThekwini Municipality officials have gone to court to force the DA to apologise over its controversial water mafia billboard and retract the online material.

Mayor Cyril Xaba, City Manager Musa Mbhele and technical services director appeared on a DA billboard with the words: “You can stop the water mafia”.

The city officials say the DA is accusing them of being part of the water tanker mafia. They argue the DA’s message is defamatory and false. They sought an urgent hearing.

Even though the billboard is no longer up, the officials say the damage has already been done. They want the party to retract all material with the statement and issue a public apology.

Mayor Cyril Xaba was present in court, but the matter was postponed as not all parties were ready.

“If there’s any evidence, they must put it before the court, and we are here to defend ourselves. We are here to defend our good name. They have no right to harm our dignity. They have no right to impugn our reputation,” says Xaba.

DA mayoral candidate, Haniff Hoosen, unveiled the billboard on September 28th, sparking protest from the city officials.

The party rejected demands to take it down, but the property owner removed it two days later fearing legal action.

Standing by its billboard, the DA denies suggesting the officials are part of the water tanker mafia.

Hoosen says the court action is the municipality’s attempt to silence the DA.

“We have spent hundreds of millions of rands on water tankers, and the people who are responsible at a government level must take accountability for it. You can’t hide behind the truth. There’s only so long that you can hide behind the truth, and we have exposed it, and that is why people are angry.  But we are not afraid of that. We will continue fighting,” say Hoosen.

The city officials want a court order forcing the DA to apologise, and an admission that it made false claims against them.

While the giant billboard is no longer up, online images with the similar message remain.

The trio also wants the court to pronounce itself on measures to be taken to remove them from the web.