Pretoria - Law enforcement agencies averted a bloodbath between DA and ANC members in the Johannesburg CBD yesterday, following the official opposition’s failed bid to hand over a memorandum to Luthuli House, to demand an end to load shedding.
The drama unfolded early in the morning as hundreds of ANC Youth League (ANCYL) members descended on the governing party’s headquarters – some armed with sjamboks, stones and other objects – saying they were guarding the building.
So intense was the situation that the ANCYL formed a human chain outside Luthuli House aimed at preventing DA leader John Steenhuisen and thousands of his supporters from getting close to Pixley Seme Street, which borders the building.
Despite the presence of the police, including the Joburg Metro Police, ANCYL members displayed their sjamboks in a clear sign that they were ready for a clash with DA members. Some sjamboks went on sale outside Luthuli House and some ANCYL members were seen filling plastic bags with broken tar and stones from potholes in the street, in an apparent plan to use them to attack DA members.
.@Our_DA leader @jsteenhuisen and members marching to Luthuli House in Johannesburg.
Video: Timothy Bernand#PowerToThePeopleMarch #Loadshedding pic.twitter.com/5HCgRezZET
Quick thinking by law enforcement agencies kept the warring parties apart. DA members marched from Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, and law enforcement prevented them from reaching Luthuli House. Instead they were confined to Beyers Naude Square. The police also erected barbed wires around all routes leading to Luthuli House, to keep the groupings apart.
Youth League members said they were sending a clear message that Luthuli House was the ANC headquarters, and not “Eskom”.
That didn’t deter billionaire businessman Rob Hersov and Steenhuisen from labelling President Cyril Ramaphosa a “clown and spineless man”.
Steenhuisen described the ANC’s headquarters as a “scene of crime”, saying the decision to award the tenders for the construction of the Medupi and Kusile power stations in 2007 was allegedly taken in the building. He said the ANC had profited to the tune of millions from the construction of the power stations.
Addressing DA supporters, he said: “So why are we here, in Library Gardens, across the way from the ANC’s headquarters, Luthuli House?
“Why are we not at the Union Buildings, as some have asked? Why did we not march to Parliament, or to Eskom’s head office, Megawatt Park?
“Why did we choose to bring the fight against load shedding and the destruction of Eskom here to the ANC?
.@MYANC members sing struggle songs as they wait for the @Our_DA to march to the party headquarters Luthuli House over rolling blackouts.
— IOL News (@IOL) January 25, 2023
Video: Itumeleng English/ @AfriNewsAgency #Loadshedding #anc #PowerToThePeopleMarch pic.twitter.com/8mMA5su5lM
“The answer is simple: If you are serious about tackling the problem, you need to go straight to the source.
“And that building there, Luthuli House, is ground zero of our electricity crisis.
“That is where the destruction of Eskom was engineered through terrible, outdated policy, through disgusting greed and corruption and, above all, the deployment of useless and often criminal cadres to the state power utility.
“Almost every single problem that has beset Eskom and has brought about 15 years of load shedding can be traced back directly to the ANC’s cadre deployment programme,” Steenhuisen said.
He said that was a blatant violation of the very first principle of the country’s democracy – the separation of party and state.
“What you see happening to Eskom now – the looting, the purge of skilled staff, the neglect of infrastructure and the complete lack of a long-term plan – is the only way cadre deployment could ever unfold. And the DA has been warning about this for decades.
“Every decision to delay the building of new power stations or to delay the procurement of electricity from other sources, every decision to put off station maintenance until things started falling apart, every corrupt contract issued to a connected crony was either made inside that building or by an ANC cadre deployed by a committee that sat inside that building,” Steenhuisen said.
Moments after he had concluded his main address, armed ANCYL members tried to storm the barricades and reach DA members, but were prevented by the law enforcement agencies which escorted them back to Luthuli House.
Afterwards, police also escorted DA members back to Newtown, their earlier meeting point.
By last night, police were keeping a watchful eye on the situation as ANCYL members continued to guard Luthuli House.
ANCYL leader Nonceba Mhlauli told her supporters that they would soon lead a march to Eskom’s headquarters to demand the early resignation of the outgoing Eskom CEO, André de Ruyter.
Pretoria News