Van Damme lays charges over ‘Ramaphosa defence force’ allegedly assaulting her
The DA MP says she was prevented from doing an 'oversight inspection' at the national key point.
DA members protesting at Medupi. Phumzile Van Damme can be seen at the far right. Picture: Supplied
In a statement on Wednesday, DA MP Phumzile Van Damme claimed she and fellow protesters had been manhandled by security guards at the controversial Medupi Power Station in Limpopo.
She referred to them as President Cyril “Ramaphosa’s defence force”.
She said she laid criminal charges against them after they “manhandled and assaulted” her, barring her “from exercising my constitutional mandate as a member of parliament to conduct an oversight inspection”.
“I was assaulted, leaving my lip bleeding and my phone was stolen, only to be returned later by the police.”
She said her party had gone to Medupi to picket outside the power station, which she claimed had “become a monument to the ANC’s failures at Eskom”.
“Over a 10-day period, the people of South Africa were subjected to rolling blackouts, which cost the economy billions, undermined the ability of hospitals to save lives and showed the ANC and Cyril Ramaphosa’s inability to manage a crisis they created.
“The reality is that, had Medupi and Kusile power stations been completed, South Africa would have most probably avoided rolling blackouts.
“The ANC does not want South Africans to see the true extent of their failures. By barring me from entering the failed and expensive facility, the ANC and Ramaphosa are attempting to hide a simple fact – there is no real plan to keep the lights on and build the economy.
“The DA will not be silenced. We will continue to expose the ANC’s corruption. It is for this reason the DA will embark on a National Day of Action to take the plight of the nation to the Union Buildings.”
She claimed only the DA had a plan to fix Eskom, keep the lights on, stabilise South Africa’s crumbling power grid and build the economy.
“Last year, the DA introduced the Independent Systems Market Operator (ISMO) Bill or ‘cheaper electricity bill’.
“The bill seeks to break Eskom into two separate entities – a generation and transmission/distribution entity. Our offer would see a generation entity which is privatised in an effort to break Eskom’s monopoly on production of energy, allowing independent power producers to compete on an equal footing in the generation sector.”
(Compiled by Charles Cilliers)
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