Brand Reputation Management Strategist Solly Moeng says he sees nothing wrong with the Democratic Alliance (DA) controversial election advert showing images of the country’s flag burning.
The narrator says the elections are about surviving the damage done to the country by the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
At the end of the video, there is a restored picture of the South African flag with the party electioneering theme “Unite to rescue South Africa”.
Moeng says there is nothing wrong with what the DA is saying.
“The country is in turmoil, the country is burning. The DA is portraying the country, the symbol of the country, which is in pain, turmoil, burning. There’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve seen people throwing the apartheid back into the DA, its a white thing. It’s nonsense. I would have done the same thing. The country is in trouble. I think it’s fine to preach the country is in trouble the way the DA has done,” adds Moeng.
DA defends ad
The DA has defended the advert, saying the burning flag symbolises the country’s current state.
🇿🇦 We are proud of our flag and are working hard to protect it and SA from the corrupt ANC/EFF Doomsday Coalition.
If we do not unite to #RescueSA on 29 May, South Africa’s democratic institutions, as well as our economy, will burn to ash under this Coalition:… https://t.co/RuI5zrB39x
— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) May 8, 2024
Party Spokesperson Solly Malatsi says, “The aim of the advert is to showcase the slide that the country is on and the risk that it will continue to go on, should we enter into the prospect of a coalition between the ANC, the EFF, and MK.”
“South Africa is in a very difficult time, and these parties collectively represent some worrisome trends that showcase that South Africa is on a slide. When you look at the flag, the burning of that flag represents that slide, and to showcase that there is still hope, that flag is not completely burned out, and it is then restored,” adds Malatsi.
VIDEO | DA Steenhuisen leader defends election advert
‘Treasonous’
Meanwhile, Arts and Culture Minister Zizi Kodwa has condemned the advert, terming the act of burning the country’s flag as a bad idea that should be considered as treason.
“Elections must be about contestation of ideas and policies, not a desecration or to destroy national symbols…things that unite us a people even beyond the 29th of May because the 29th of May will come and go, but we must remain united as a people and part of what parties must do as a campaign is that they must not divide us…because we come from a very divided past and that flag is something that unites us form a point of view of our liberation heritage,” says Kodwa.
He adds, “The idea of burning the flag is a bad idea and I think should be treasonous…the Electoral Code of Conduct Act must consider to include a prohibition of such acts.”
PODCAST: Zizi Kodwa comments on the DA’s latest election advert:
