John Steenhuisen

(TSA composite / DA / Twitter)

John Steenhuisen fumes as DA billboard torched by protesters

There’s a major downside to destroying DA property: You’ve got John Steenhuisen to answer to. The politician is hell-bent on finding those responsible.

John Steenhuisen

(TSA composite / DA / Twitter)

Two massive billboards outside of Johannesburg. Two separate acts of vandalism against them. The DA aren’t having much luck with their election campaign posters, as their most recent effort suffered yet another round of vandalism and destruction, and it has put Party Whip John Steenhuisen on the war path.

Just a month after their Life Esidimeni-themed billboard was torn down, their latest offering – which reads: “The ANC has killed the lights affecting 57 million South Africans! It’s time for us to take their power.” – has been set alight and charred beyond recognition.

John Steenhuisen takes aim at vandals

The campaign is a slight against the ANC’s management of Eskom. The state-owned entity has limped through a devastating week where Stage 4 load shedding ended up being implemented last Monday. The extreme inefficiency of the utility has been laid bare for all to see, and the DA were keen to capitalise on this plot point.

However, at some time on Sunday evening – just hours after the billboard was officially unveiled – it went up in smoke. John Steenhuisen was left bitterly disappointed by the developments and will be laying charges at the Parkview Police Station in Johannesburg at 14:30.

“While we do not know who the perpetrators are at this point, we do know that this is not the first time one of our billboards depicting the ANC’s failures have been destroyed.”

“We will not be deterred by this blatant act of sabotage. We will fix our billboard because no amount of vandalism or arson will hide the fact that Eskom continues to fail in its mandate of providing services to the people of South Africa.”

John STeenhuisen

The future of Eskom

The Eskom issue will be the burning of topic of conversation this week, and right through until Election time in May. On Wednesday, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni will deliver the 2019 budget speech which is expected to set aside a hefty chunk of money to help save the sinking utility.

It’s estimated that load shedding costs South Africa R1 billion per stage, per day. After a rough week of rolling blackouts, water and diesel replenishment helped get the grid back on track. But there is no guarantee we won’t see the lights go off again in the near future.