The revelations surrounding Tony Leon and Resolve Communications expose the Democratic Alliance's alleged hypocrisy in governance and accountability, writes Carl Niehaus.
The Economic Freedom Fighters have never minced our words when confronting corruption, state capture and the manipulation of public institutions for private gain. We have led and consistently led the charge against Cyril Ramaphosa on the Phala Phala matter and all the corruption and financial irregularities revealed by that debacle. We are continuing to do so now in the Section 89 impeachment committee. We stood firm against the criminal networks such as the Guptas and others that looted our state under Jacob Zuma. We demanded accountability without fear or favour. The same uncompromising standard must be applied to the Democratic Alliance and its former leader, Tony Leon.
John Steenhuisen’s recent explosive revelations have torn away the DA’s carefully cultivated mask. The former DA leader described how Resolve Communications — the public affairs firm chaired by Tony Leon and run by former DA Chief Executive Officer Paul Boughey — systematically used its political proximity to DA ministers in the Government of National Unity to facilitate meetings between those ministers and the firm’s private corporate clients. Among the most brazen examples: arranging access for Elon Musk’s Starlink to Communications Minister Solly Malatsi in order to accelerate regulatory approvals for Starlink’s operating licence. At the same time, Steenhuisen alleged, Resolve was orchestrating a public campaign against him over the Foot-and-Mouth Disease crisis through the lobby group FMD Response SA. While the firm privately lobbied him for its clients, it publicly hounded him on the very portfolio he held.
