Serious questions raised around claims of PR company’s influence on DA

When Geordin Hill-Lewis decided to ask President Cyril Ramaphosa to make a number of changes to the DA component of the government of national unity’s cabinet, little did he know of the political storm that would follow.

Among those Hill-Lewis wanted removed was his predecessor as DA leader John Steenhuisen — who has now been demoted from agriculture minister to trade and industry deputy minister.

Feeling “betrayed” because he agreed to step down as DA leader on condition that Hill-Lewis would allow him to complete his term as agriculture minister, Steenhuisen gave an explosive interview to News24 in which, among other things, he accused another former leader — Tony Leon — of basically using the party’s elected representatives to bat for clients of his private PR company.

The PR company, Resolve, has among its clients Elon Musk’s Starlink — a satellite communications company that has been battling to get permission to operate in SA amidst unfounded claims by Musk that it was being prevented from doing so because he was white.

From Steenhuisen’s interview, it would seem that another DA minister — communications minister Solly Malatsi was under intense lobbying by Resolve, on behalf of Starlink, to change government policies to allow for equity alternatives to BEE requirements.

Since then, at least three other former DA elected public representatives have spoken publicly about how they were “lobbied” by Leon’s company on behalf of its clients.

One former minister, Dion George, told TimesLIVE that while at forestry, fisheries and environment, Resolve Communications repeatedly pressured him to meet its clients.

Both Steenhuisen and George seem to believe that their removal from the cabinet was backed by Leon’s company.

This has raised serious questions about the role of Resolve in influencing public representatives from the DA, as well as the public at large, with some even accusing the firm of being a DA version of “Bell Pottinger” — the British PR firm that worked closely with former president Jacob Zuma’s associates to fight his political opponents.

If the claims are true, this is a form of state capture and needs to be condemned.

While “lobbying” by private sector companies is an accepted practice, no company should unfairly use its proximity to elected public representatives — or their former bosses — to influence public policy changes without scrutiny.