ANC says new logo is a no-go

The party and the city slugged it out in the Cape Town High Court over the changing of the city's logo. According to Xolani Sotashe, the ANC chief whip in the Cape Town council, the city did not invite public input before implementing the new logo in February last year.

Sotashe estimated it would cost the city up to R8m to roll out the new brand. The ANC wants the court to set the city's decision aside.

"We want to make sure that we deal with the arrogance of the DA who think that because they have the majority in the council, they can do as they wish," said Sotashe.

"Our presence in this court was to affirm the participation of the citizens of Cape Town in determining their future.

"The issue of the logo is important to us because there is money involved. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the old logo. That logo brought a lot of accolades for the City of Cape Town which they boast about.

"The question we are asking is: Why do you change when it is working?"

Last year Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille said the city spent R313720 on "the design of the proposed new corporate identity, a new visual language and brand architecture development".

In court papers the city said it did not have to consult the public. "If the city had to consult the public every time it contemplated incurring expenditure of R300000, the work of the municipality would grind to a halt," it said.

"While the rollout of the new corporate identity was done in a costeffective way, the implementation of the project has now reached the point at which it will be more costly to reverse the implementation of the new logo than to implement it fully."

Judgment was reserved.

Source: The Times