ANC’s Dan Bovu denies EFF claim of bribery – threatens defamation suit

The ANC’s Dan Bovu has denied a claim by the Economic Freedom Fighters that he has tried to bribe its councillors in Johannesburg to vote for the ANC and says he intends opening a case of defamation against the EFF.

In a startling claim on Sunday‚ the Economic Freedom Fighters accused Bovu‚ the outgoing Member of the Mayoral Committee for Housing for Johannesburg‚ of calling its councillors and “offering them money to the value of R500‚000 in exchange for them to vote with the ANC during the elections of the Johannesburg City Council tomorrow”.

ALSO READ: EFF claims ANC’s Dan Bovu has offered its councillors R500‚000 to vote for ANC in Joburg

 The EFF said it would be opening a case of bribery against Bovu‚ the outgoing Member of the Mayoral Committee for Housing for Johannesburg.

 It warned that its votes were not up for sale – “be it money or positions”.

However‚ Bovu denied the claim and accused the EFF of “desperate grandstanding”.

In a statement‚ he said: “I have noted with great concern the serious‚ defamatory and spurious allegations of bribery that the EFF is making against me to bribe their Johannesburg councillors. It must be stated that I have never met EFF councillors nor have I offered anyone bribes to vote with the ANC. I intend to open a case of defamation against my character by the EFF.”

Bovu added that since the election results were announced‚ the ANC had been in dialogue with other parties who were clear that they did not represent an agenda that sought to reverse the democratic gains the ANC had achieved since 1994.

“My understanding is that the desperate grandstanding of the EFF is due to what happened in Rustenburg on Friday‚ where smaller parties rallied around the ANC to form a partnership of cooperation‚ thus rejecting the EFF and their coalition with their bedfellows‚ the DA‚” Bovu asserted.

Johannesburg is one of the many hung councils throughout the country following the recent local government elections‚ with the ANC having garnered 44.5% of the vote to the Democratic Alliance’s 38.37%. The EFF received 11.09% while the Inkatha Freedom Fighters got 1.72%.

The EFF has rejected coalitions with other opposition parties but has stated that it will vote with the DA in hung councils. However‚ it stated that it would not vote with the DA in Johannesburg unless it withdraws renowned businessman Herman Mashaba as its mayoral candidate for the metro.