DA MP Phumzile Van Damme is expected to lay charges on Wednesday regarding an alleged racist incident that happened earlier this week at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.
Van Damme accuses the Waterfront’s security management of allowing the people who are alleged to have hurled racist abuse at her to leave the facility.
She says she has requested CCTV footage from the CEO of the Waterfront, but he says this can only be made available to the police.
Van Damme says she now hopes police will be able to request the Waterfront footage and track down the culprits.
The V &A Waterfront has tweeted an apology to Van Damme.
Management of @VandAWaterfront if you’re going to allow racism & racists on your premisis, please announce it to all. I will not stand for anyone’s racism towards me or anyone. And don’t send me some PR clichéd response either, ACTION pic.twitter.com/YIriYXUKQW
— Phumzile Van Damme (@zilevandamme) June 18, 2019
So @VandAWaterfront given the chance, you do not tell people racism is not allowed in your mall. Ban this family from your premises so we can see you’re serious, you have their photo. And no, I won’t stand while violence is threatened towards me, risk being beaten. ENOUGH!
— Phumzile Van Damme (@zilevandamme) June 18, 2019
AND, @VandAWaterfront the right way to deal with this would’ve been to take my details & the family’s details & apologized to me for what I’d experienced. Your “Manager” did neither. He treated me like the rubbish & told me to go, so I said “fine, I’ll have to expose you”
— Phumzile Van Damme (@zilevandamme) June 18, 2019
Thank you for your apology, I appreciate it. Please train your staff better and I am glad to see your commitment to banning anyone from your mall who exhibits racist behaivour. https://t.co/xggUgc8xlG
— Phumzile Van Damme (@zilevandamme) June 18, 2019
I requested CCTV footage from the CEO of the V&A and he informed me it can only be made available to SAPS in terms of the law. I will be laying charges tomorrow, I unfortunately do not know the names of the racist family but I hope @SAPoliceService will be able to track them down
— Phumzile Van Damme (@zilevandamme) June 18, 2019
The Management of the V&A Waterfront unreservedly apologises to Ms @zilevandamme for the treatment she received in an interaction with our security manager who intervened during an unpleasant altercation she had with a family of visitors on our property earlier today.
— V&A Waterfront (@VandAWaterfront) June 18, 2019
We regret this incident, which we did not handle with the necessary objectivity, respect and empathy.
— V&A Waterfront (@VandAWaterfront) June 18, 2019
As the country’s premier tourist destination, the majority of which are local Capetonians and South Africans, we do not tolerate any treatment that would diminish the standing of any member of our community.
— V&A Waterfront (@VandAWaterfront) June 18, 2019
We are a neighbourhood of the city of Cape Town and are committed to giving all our visitors a pleasant experience to enjoy and to treating them with respect.
— V&A Waterfront (@VandAWaterfront) June 18, 2019
Click on the video below:
