The Democratic Alliance (DA) will lay an official complaint with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) against the alleged ANC 'war room'.

This comes after a meeting the official opposition had with the electoral body following the surfacing of the alleged 'war room' masterminded by senior members of the African National Congress (ANC).

'War Room' was an alleged R50-million campaign to bolster the image of the ANC by disempowering political rivals during the 2016 local government elections.

Details of the covert campaign emerged when Sihle Bolani, a public relation strategist, took the ANC to court for a R2.2-million claim allegedly owed to her company for work done for the ruling party during the election.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane's spokesperson said that the electoral body requested a formal complaint before opening an investigation into the allegations.

"We had an open and frank discussion about the war room and how it undermined the principles of elections. We told them how the purpose of the campaign was to affect outcome of the elections," said Mabine Seabe.

"They noted our gripe with the matter and told us to put forward an official complaint before they can effect an investigation," he said.

Seabe said that they will send the complaint by Friday.

"It will be done anytime between today and Friday," he said.

The covert campaign allegedly focused on enhancing the ANC’s presence on social media while disempowering its political rivals by printing fake election posters and engaging social media influencers.

Additional reporting by TMG Digital