ActionSA has filed a complaint with the Public Protector over alleged state capture-like conduct by Tony Leon’s firm, Resolve Communications.
The party claims the firm may have improperly used Leon’s standing within the Democratic Alliance (DA) to create access for its clients to government officials, including in relation to satellite internet company Starlink.
ActionSA National Chairperson Michael Beaumont says the complaint was based on a growing pattern of behaviour that required formal investigation.
“So what it looks like is Tony Leon’s position as an elder in the Democratic Alliance is being used to create access for his clients to government where the DA is involved, and this does need to be investigated, because we would know none of this right now if it wasn’t brought out into the public domain by these individuals,” Beaumont says.
Beaumont says the concerns were triggered by statements from ‘disgruntled’ DA ministers, including DA leader John Steenhuisen, who he says admitted to facilitating meetings with Resolve Communications clients at Tony Leon’s request.
He says one such meeting involved Starlink and was related to concerns about the pace of progress under Communications Minister Solly Malatsi.
“What we have thought very clearly is a meeting that was set up between Starlink and the former DA leader, and the purpose of that meeting, according to the former DA leader, was to complain about Solly Malatsi’s lack of compliance,” says Beaumont.
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In a statement, Resolve Communications says it has been the subject of a series of allegations advanced by political figures and amplified by political parties.
“They have been gravely framed — proximity, privilege, even the language of state capture. What they have conspicuously lacked is the one thing that ought to accompany an accusation of wrongdoing: evidence. Not a single document, not a single unlawful act has been produced, simply because none exists.
“One of those levelling claims against us conceded, in his own words, that he has none — that he simply ‘put two and two together.’ That is not a basis for a public accusation. It is the absence of one,” says Resolve.
Beaumont says Leon’s position on DA structures gave him leverage that blurred the line between requests and instructions to ministers.
“From that point of view, this individual sits on committees that determine whether DA leaders stay or go. He negotiates the very same GNU that these ministers now sit in positions in on behalf of the DA, and then comes knocking on their doors later to ask for access. So there’s a serious concern that when those ministers are engaged to attend meetings, it’s less of a request and more of an instruction,” says Beaumont.
The Resolve statement says, “Resolve has at all times acted lawfully, transparently and in accordance with the recognised standards of our profession. We represent legitimate, law-abiding businesses — enterprises that invest in this country, create employment and contribute to its growth. We help them engage government openly and on the merits of their case.
“That is the proper work of public affairs, conducted in every functioning democracy on earth. It is a service to the democratic process, through which the concerns of those affected by government decisions are made known to those who take them.”
Statement by Tony Leon, Executive Chairman of Resolve Communications
30 June 2026 pic.twitter.com/7d3ChYA90i— Resolve Communications (@ResolveComms) June 30, 2026
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