Yet more lies from Tony Ehrenreich

24 April 2014

Tony Ehrenreich's allegations regarding advertising expenditure of the Western Cape Government are completely devoid of truth.

Here are the facts.

First, while it's not very clear what radio adverts Mr Ehrenreich is referring to in his letter of demand, the only adverts that have been flighted by the Western Cape Government in recent weeks, ahead of the school holidays and Easter Weekend, have been the "It Takes A Second To Save A Life" Seatbelt radio adverts, which encourage motorists and their passengers to buckle up.

This multi-media campaign was launched last year by the Western Cape Government and is aimed at increasing awareness around the urgent need for more seatbelt compliance amongst road users in the province. Research has shown that increased seatbelt compliance will mean thousands of lives could be saved on our roads every year.

A study conducted by the Stellenbosch University's Emergency Medicine Unit revealed that in Cape Town alone:

Only 25% of the City's motorists wore seatbelts;

Most severe injuries were sustained by those who were not wearing seatbelts at the time of the collision; and

Rear passenger seatbelt usage was at an alarming 8.3%.

It is clear that we urgently need to create awareness amongst citizens about the importance of wearing a seatbelt, which is exactly what the Western Cape Government's "It Takes A Second to Save a Life" radio adverts aim to do.

If more people buckle up we can bring down the high number of road deaths in our province. It is extremely disturbing that Mr Ehrenreich believes that encouraging people to buckle up is wastage of public funds, when this could possibly save people's lives.

Secondly, there is absolutely no truth to his claims of a link between advertising agencies between the DA and the Western Cape Government. The party and the provincial government use different media buying agencies to purchase advertising space.

The fact is that the Western Cape Government has nothing to hide when it comes to its advertising expenditure. Every advert run by the provincial government makes it clear what opportunity it is delivering and what responsibilities citizens have in order to take advantage of these opportunities. This is the core messaging of the provincial government's Better Together Theme.

If Mr Ehrenreich was truly concerned about the state abusing advertising expenditure, he would report the ANC national and provincial governments to the Electoral Court and Public Protector.

There are countless examples of the ANC government's abuse of taxpayer's money for electioneering purposes.

Once such example is the South African National Defence Force's (SANDF) "Commander in Chief" billboards and newspaper adverts.

The SANDF's military bases are falling apart and their helicopters and fighter jets have to be grounded because of lack of funds. Recently, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula was quoted as saying that the SANDF was in "critical decline" because of underfunding and that it could take up to ten years to get the defence force back into shape.

Yet, the national department was happy to spend hundreds of thousands on glossy newspaper adverts and billboards showing the ANC government's former and current Presidents, which clearly offers zero benefit to citizens.

It is clear Mr Ehrenreich's latest publicity stunt is nothing more than a desperate attempt to divert people's attention away from the real facts, which is that the ANC national and provincial governments are using public funds to drive the party's elections campaign.

The DA, on the other hand, is committed to upholding and protecting the separation between party and state, which is why we will continue exposing the ANC's abuse of power.

Statement issued by Ivan Meyer: Leader of Western Cape DA, April 24 2014

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