Serious accusations against Tony Leon’s company

Former DA leader John Steenhuisen and ActionSA National Chairperson Michael Beaumont have levelled serious accusations against Resolve Communications.

Resolve Communications is a specialist public relations and public affairs agency with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

The firm, founded in 2013, specialises in strategic communications, crisis management, and lobbying.

“The Resolve team of public relations, public affairs and crisis management experts has successfully tackled a range of challenging assignments,” it said.

Resolve Communications was founded by Tony Leon, who served as DA leader and South Africa’s Ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay.

He currently serves as its executive chairman, focusing on reputation management, crisis communications, and political risk analysis.

The company’s CEO is Paul Boughey, who previously served as the Democratic Alliance’s chief executive. He resigned in 2019.

Leon and Boughey are highly respected in the political and business sectors, having achieved significant success in their careers.

However, over the last two days, the company has faced serious accusations of questionable practices.

John Steenhuisen claimed that Resolve Communications actively drove the relentless public narrative criticising him and his chief of staff at the Department of Agriculture.

He added that Resolve Communications regularly used its political proximity to the DA to approach him and other Government of National Unity (GNU) cabinet ministers.

Steenhuisen said that they were approached to facilitate meetings on behalf of their private corporate clients.

He said he found this behaviour highly concerning, given how close the firm’s leadership is to the DA itself. He flagged it internally to the party caucus as a major ethical risk.

ActionSA National Chairperson Michael Beaumont makes serious accusations

ActionSA National Chairperson Michael Beaumont accused Resolve Communications of improperly trying to facilitate a R300 million tender.

He said that Resolve Communications, acting on behalf of one of its clients, did things when Herman Mashaba was mayor of Johannesburg.

“Tony Leon had requested a meeting with Mashaba, and given Leon’s status as former leader of the party, Mashaba had agreed to meet him on 5 April 2019,” he wrote.

At that meeting, Leon, as executive chairman of Resolve Communications, had pitched a product of one of his clients to the city for R300 million.”

“Mashaba had been incensed and swift to point out that the law did not allow for such arrangements and that this was not how his government operated.”

Mashaba later said he had never been approached by the EFF or any other coalition partner regarding a tender.

“After the engagement with Tony Leon, I cannot say the same of my own party,” Mashaba said, when he was still part of the DA.

According to Beaumont, the Democratic Alliance turned on Mashaba the moment that he refused to adhere to Leon’s demands.

Tony Leon rejected the claim outright. “Who the City of Johannesburg decides to contract with is entirely the business of the City following all lawful processes,” he said.

“It is not the business of myself or the company I chair. One of our roles is to manage relationships between our private sector clients and those in the public sector.”

Leon said that he and Resolve Communications do so in an entirely open and transparent fashion.

Resolve Communications responds to accusations

Resolve Communications responded to the allegations, saying they actively sought to mischaracterise and distort their work.

For accuracy, the full statement from Resolve Communications regarding the accusations is published below.

Statements made in a recent News24 interview and in numerous online posts and public commentary have actively sought to mischaracterise and distort the work of Resolve Communications.

We reject these mischaracterisations, falsehoods and distortions firmly and without reservation, and we are again setting the record straight.

Resolve is a professional communications and public-affairs firm representing legitimate, law-abiding South African and international businesses.

We are one of many such firms operating here and globally, doing work that is entirely lawful, entirely proper, and entirely necessary in a functioning democracy.

Engaging government, no matter which political party happens to be in office, on behalf of clients — openly, transparently and on the merits — is not unusual or questionable.

It is how business communicates with government in every democratic country in the world.

To suggest otherwise is to fundamentally misunderstand, or to deliberately misrepresent, how legitimate and ethical public affairs works.

Resolve has not acted in any of the ways that some have mistakenly and maliciously alleged online and elsewhere.

Where inferences to the contrary have been drawn and published, we are taking careful note and are actively considering our legal rights.

We hold ourselves to high ethical standards. The businesses we represent invest in this country, create jobs and contribute to its growth. We make no apology for advocating on their behalf.

Let us be unequivocal about what our work involves and what it does not. We connect clients with the relevant parts of government and advocate publicly on the policy issues that affect them.

This is a core, legitimate function of a public-affairs firm — conducted openly, on the merits, and without any attempt to improperly influence anyone. 

We assist our clients in making their case; we do not, and cannot, direct the decisions of independent ministers or officials.

Every final decision rests with those independent public representatives, exactly as it should.

Facilitating stakeholder engagement on matters of public policy is not a conflict of interest — it is a cornerstone of democratic participation.

Some of our principals are former officeholders, as is the case in many other such firms. They hold no public office, no public funds and no decision-making power.

The suggestion that their experience and understanding of government constitutes an improper advantage is wrong.

Every professional in every field draws on their background and expertise. Public-affairs professionals are no different.

Our principals’ past affiliations are publicly known, openly acknowledged and entirely proper. We engage with all parties and across government strictly on the merits of the issues our clients raise.

Where our clients’ interests align with investment, jobs and growth — as they consistently do — that is a public good, not a conflict of interest.

We are confident in the integrity of how we operate. We have nothing to hide and nothing to apologise for.

We welcome scrutiny — provided it is grounded in fact, conducted fairly, and not driven by the narrow political interests of many of those making these spurious allegations.