Tuesday, September 03, 2019

South Africa's Anti-Foreigner Riots

Violent xenophobia erupted in South Africa once again. Rioters looted foreign-owned shops in Johannesburg. At least 70 people were arrested, the police said.


Hundreds of people marched in Johannesburg's Central Business District (CBD) earlier in the day, demanding foreigners leave, according to local news agency News 24. They targeted shops they believed to be owned by foreign nationals.
Last week, hundreds of protesters in Pretoria set fire to buildings, looted mostly foreign-owned businesses and clashed with police.
Zambia's government on Monday called on Zambian truck drivers to avoid travelling to South Africa and those already in the country to park their vehicles "until the security situation improves". Truck drivers in the southeastern province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) started a nationwide strike on Sunday to protest against the employment of foreign drivers.  200 people have been killed in attacks on foreign truck drivers since March 2018.
Sipho Zungu, chairman of the All Truck Drivers Foundation, told AFP his group had had "nothing to do with the strike", but stressed that it was fighting for the employment of South African drivers.

"People of South Africa are hungry, they are sitting at home while companies in South Africa are employing foreigners…because its cheap labour. We are hungry and angry," Zungu told AFP.

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