The ANC and the City of Cape Town continue to battle over the city’s adoption of a new logo, a move the ANC has described as ‘arrogant’.
The party’s application to have the city’s adoption of a new logo declared null and void, was heard in the Western Cape High Court on Monday.
ANC chief whip in the Western Cape Xolani Sotashe said the DA’s decision to adopt the logo was not taken with public participation.
“We should all respect the law. The DA cannot have double standards,” Sotashe told News24 on Tuesday.
“In Cape Town, they’ve developed an arrogance in taking decisions on behalf of citizens. We don’t approve of this attitude.
“The issue of changing the image of the city is supposed to involve the residents.”
The logo’s new design reportedly cost more than R300 000, and its implementation could cost as much as R8m, Sotashe said.
He maintained the party wasn’t against the implementation of a new logo, but rather that the law be followed.
“Changing the image of the city is a very serious decision. They are flouting the rules of the Municipalities Systems Act.
“People of Cape Town must identify themselves through this particular logo.”
‘Brand refreshing’
The city meanwhile argued the decision didn’t require public participation.
“Many other organs of state have adopted new logos without following a public participation process,” the city’s lawyer, Geoff Budlender, argued in court papers.
“By its nature it is not a matter which gives rise to a need consult the public.”
Budlender also argued that no public consultation was conducted either in the adoption of the old Cape Town logo, designed in 2003 under a then ANC and NNP coalition government.
City spokesperson Priya Reddy told News24 on Tuesday the move to change the logo was simply to reinvigorate its brand and to realign the city’s policy with its public image.
“We were due for a brand refresh as we had had the previous one for many years. It is standard practice for all big organisations, particularly one as dynamic as the city, to update their brand to move with changing times and organisational identities.
“We do respect the court proceedings and await the outcome. The roll out of our new brand identity has been highly successful and is now an integral part of the organisation.”
The new logo’s design was first approved in February 2014 as part of a broader restructuring of the city’s ‘corporate identity’.
The move was met then with warnings from opposition parties that the decision would be contested via a high court interdict.
Judgment in the court case was reserved. News24