After Gauteng's premier admitted using hotels during water cuts, the DA turned the moment into a billboard -- and the ANC now wants it removed, warning of court action over the AI-generated image.

A billboard mocking Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi's habit of checking into hotels during water cuts is headed for a court showdown.

Two days after the ad went up, the ANC wrote to the DA saying the billboard tarnishes the party's image and that it does not have permission to use an AI-generated image of Lesufi having a shower while grinning.

"It is an unauthorised and demeaning use of the image of the Gauteng Premier that has been digitally manipulated to create [the] impression that he has co-operated with the Democratic Alliance to assist them to satirise his own political party," said attorney Mongezi Ntanga of Ntange Nkuhlu Attorneys in a letter on 5 March.

He gave the party 12 hours from receipt of the letter to remove not only the billboard but also matching social media posts.

Ntanga said the court action would be brought in terms of the Electoral Act's Electoral Code of Conduct. However, the code is only applicable once an election has been called -- the local government election date has not been set.

Johannesburg hit its fifth infrastructural Day Zero in three years in February. On 11 February, while addressing a briefing, Lesufi said "...in some...