Moyahabo Mabeba
LEPHALALE – FOLLOWING the shooting incident in Lephalale where two buses carrying workers to Medupi Power Station were shot at last Thursday, security officers are now accompanying workers to the site.
Nine shots were fired at one of the buses while in the other incident; a driver was wounded after the bus he was driving was shot at on the Shongoane – Lephalale road.
The security escort is done with all buses around Lephalale, especially those traveling in the early mornings and in the evening.
The shooting incident came after recent allegations of acts of intimidation of non-striking workers at the power station.
Incidents of intimidation forced Eskom to lock out some of the construction workers from the company’s hostel compounds at Marapong Township and in town.
Some workers embarked on an illegal stay-away in March this year demanding inter alia, travel allowance, bonuses for the completion of unit six of the power station and the immediate expulsion of some foreign boilermakers.
However, some of the workers are now back at work while others are still refusing to return until their demands are met.
Provincial police spokesperson, Col Ronel Otto, could not confirm whether the shooting incident was related to the strike at Medupi.
Otto said they were currently investigating cases of attempted murder and no arrests had been made.
“In the first incident, a bus travelling from Shongoane was fired at once. The bus driver sustained minor injuries when the window shattered. The other bus was travelling from Marapong to Medupi when nine shots were fired, but nobody was injured,” Otto confirmed. According to information, it was alleged that prior to the shooting incident, a white bakkie without number plates approached the buses in the early hours of Thursday morning and started firing at them before speeding off.
Meanwhile, work at the plant is said to be progressing well.
