Particle.news
Download on the App Store

DA Defies ANC Demand to Remove Lesufi ‘Hotel Shower’ Billboard in Gauteng

A legal demand over an allegedly AI-generated image positions the dispute for a court test of political speech.

Overview

  • The DA-installed billboard in Pretoria reads “The ANC showers in hotels, you have no water” with the tagline “Vote DA to put water in your taps.”
  • The ANC’s attorneys issued a 12-hour takedown demand, alleging an unauthorised, digitally manipulated image of Premier Panyaza Lesufi and reputational harm.
  • DA federal council chair Helen Zille publicly rejected the demand and said the party will not remove the billboard.
  • The SACP, the ANC’s Gauteng provincial task team and Cosatu condemned the billboard as misleading, distasteful and a political stunt.
  • Reporting points to a likely court fight that could test free political expression, as social media monitoring logged roughly 25,000 X posts tied to the row.