DA set to investigate Van Damme for punching a ‘racist man’ at V&A Waterfront

After a report in Afrikaans Sunday paper Rapport revealed that the DA may be trying to pursue disciplinary action against their member of parliament Phumzile Van Damme, an unimpressed Van Damme took to Twitter to confirm that she had only been informed of the possible investigation verbally.

1. I have received no official correspondence from the party stating I have been charged.
2. I was verbally informed that there will be an investigation to determine whether I should be charged.
3. It is unfortunate that this is the route that has been chosen, but here we have it pic.twitter.com/vR7p3vSi5M

— Phumzile Van Damme (@zilevandamme) August 25, 2019

She said she was yet to be formally charged, but correspondence about it from fellow party member Ghaleb Cachalia had apparently already been leaked to the press, which she called “mighty interesting”.

I must now be disciplined as per correspondence by @GhalebCachalia which is quoted verbatim in the Rapport. That sure is mighty interesting.

— Phumzile Van Damme (@zilevandamme) August 25, 2019

In a subsequent tweet she suggested she might be getting set up for “sacrifice”.

But here’s the thing: I will not be the sacrificed at the altar to appease some people and in the quest for votes. Sir, Ma’am, no. So, in a nutshell: makunyiwe macala.

— Phumzile Van Damme (@zilevandamme) August 25, 2019

She also highly critical of the Rapport article and its editor, claiming that the newspaper had the matter factually wrong and it was allegedly being used by a faction in the DA that opposes her.

As an aside @waldimar as usual gets the facts completely wrong. I have NOT been charged. His paper has become nothing but a factional mouthpiece in attacks against me.

— Phumzile Van Damme (@zilevandamme) August 25, 2019

The case relates to an incident in June, when Van Damme punched a man in the head at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town because she considered him a “racist”.

She tweeted at the time that she had experienced racism and had punched the offender in an act of “self-defence”.

“The family. This lady was filming me the entire time, so I tried to take photos & that little s**t in the black t-shirt came to my face & came within my face & [said] ‘voetsek you black’ & threw [my phone] on the ground. He was threatening violence so in self-defense I punched him in the head,” Van Damme admitted in a tweet at the time.

She claimed to have been standing in a queue when a quarrel broke out with the mother of a family at one of the Waterfront’s supermarkets. The mother allegedly told her she would “push [Van Damme] aside”.

“Then when I went out, she was standing there with her family in a threatening manner. And I went to her and said, ‘why are you looking at me in a threatening manner?’ Then she said, ‘it’s because you’re black’.”

Van Damme also complained about the way the venue’s management had dealt with her complaint. The Waterfront launched an investigation into the validity of her claims and later apologised.

Van Damme has now made it clear she is more than willing to keep defending herself against any internal party charges.

I look forward to receiving correspondence from the party requesting my feedback in an investigation to determine whether I should be charged for taking a stand against racism & defending myself while in a situation I feared I would be attacked.

— Phumzile Van Damme (@zilevandamme) August 25, 2019

She called 2019 her “annus horribilis” in the DA, which she would only be willing to discuss later. She made it clear she would not be quitting the party though.

“To add: when the time is right, at the risk of sounding like Jacob Zuma, I will write about the year that has been 2019 in the DA. An annus horribilis. I know I am not alone in this. I have kept quiet in the hopes things will change for too long. Oh, and I am going nowhere.”

To add: when the time is right, at the risk of sounding like Jacob Zuma, I will write about the year that has been 2019 in the DA. An annus horribilis. I know I am not alone in this. I have kept quiet in the hopes things will change for too long. Oh, and I am going nowhere.

— Phumzile Van Damme (@zilevandamme) August 25, 2019

(Edited by Charles Cilliers)

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