EFF leader Julius Malema has been accused of shutting down a fuel station for a day over nonpayment of a refund due to a business he owns.
The incident happened at Tweefontein Total garage in Polokwane, where employees told Sowetan that a petrol attendant on Sunday had mistakenly punched in an amount of R37,000 instead of R370 for payment of fuel for a vehicle driven by Malema's worker. The filling station apparently committed to refund the difference by Monday but due to delays with the bank the money was not repaid by Wednesday.
The petrol station manager Barbara Lloyd said Malema, who arrived at the filling station in a white 4x4 double cab Toyota bakkie accompanied by his bodyguards and a group of men, then demanded his refund to be paid immediately.
"One of the workers at the Mekete Lodge and Water Park came to put a fuel of R370 on Sunday. Then our petrol attendant mistakenly typed R37,000 and the transaction was processed as such," she said.
Lloyd said the very same day the problem was identified and a process to refund was initiated with the bank.
"The money was supposed to be paid back on Monday but it didn't happen and we called the bank on Tuesday and they cited public holiday for the delay. We admit it's our mistake but we didn't expect a political leader to order a closure of our business and it's unfair," she said. Lloyd said she called the police after Malema instructed petrol attendants to stop refueling cars and turned away motorists who came to fill up.
"The man who works at the park (Mekete Lodge) came on Tuesday and told me that Malema wants his money back. I explained that the bank was delaying the process and he left, before I knew it, Malema came with his bodyguards and several men, and told me together with petrol attendants that no-one is going to work until his money is paid," Lloyd said.
The manager said they were trying to resolve the situation as soon as possible, adding that the business had lost over R50,000 for the day due to closure. In a video footage that Sowetan has seen, Malema, who was dressed in black disembarked from the vehicle wearing a mask before he could be seen pointing fingers at the petrol attendants who were leaning against the wall next to the entrance. For at least 40 minutes Malema could be seen walking around remonstrating and gesturing with his hands before he left with another man.
A petrol attendant at the filling station told Sowetan that some of the men who were with Malema took away tags to unlock the petrol pumps and had not returned two of them.
According to the filling station employee, police were called to the scene but did little to help the business to reopen.
Sowetan reached out to Malema for comment through several calls and text messages since Wednesday but he did not respond to any. EFF spokesperson Vuyani Pambo told Sowetan he could not comment until he had spoken to Malema.
According to another petrol attendant, Malema instructed them not to work, and further ordered the garage manager not to fire their colleague who committed a mistake.
"He said if he comes back and find that the petrol attendant has been fired he would shut it down again. He came with three bodyguards and four men believed to be his workers at the lodge and occupied the petrol pumps so that no one could fill up their cars," said the attendant who asked not be named.
Malema attended the grand opening of the revamped Mekete Water Park, situated 8km outside Polokwane, where scores of local people attended with their families. Brig Motlafela Mojapelo said no case had been opened with the police.
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