The DA's top three leaders on Saturday described an anonymous email, detailing alleged sexual misconduct between the party's senior male leaders and their female colleagues as "false and destructive".
The party's parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane's campaign manager, Gordin Hill-Lewis says in a statement they condemn the email and its anonymous author in the strongest possible terms.
Hill-Lewis was speaking on behalf Maimane, the party's federal chairperson, Wilmot James and Eastern Cape leader Athol Trollip.
Maimane and James are running for the party's leadership position, while Trollip is running for the federal chairmanship.
In the email, which was seen by News24, the author says the reason why there are few women running for leadership positions in the party is because "there are men in the DA who have made it a special past time to choose women in the party to be their playthings".
The email then continues to name five senior party leaders, who are either known for hitting on female staff members, for having sexual relations with them in return for getting them positions and names one female staff member who was allegedly eventually fired after having an "open affair" with one of the men.