By RFIPubliée the 31-08-2019Modified the 31-08-2019 at 22:13

Is this a new wave of large-scale xenophobia that is happening in South Africa? The country is customary because of the great violence of 2008 and 2015. Various trades call for a major mobilization this September 1 in the country to "get rid" of foreigners, accused in their view of selling drugs and commit crimes. Earlier in the week already, several foreign-owned stores were burned in the capital Pretoria. Countries in the region call on their citizens to be cautious.

The Zambian Embassy in Pretoria prefers to prevent the diaspora . In particular, it calls on truck drivers not to leave their homes and not work tomorrow, given the " serious threats against them ".

Because it is the foreign drivers who are in the viewfinder of the demonstrators. According to the statement, South Africans are being asked to get rid of migrants by any means ... migrants accused of drug trafficking, theft and taking jobs from the premises.

So, some foreign truckers have shown their fear for several weeks when getting behind the wheel. Indeed, roadblocks have proliferated across the country, particularly in KwaZulu Natal province, where South African driver associations are doing justice to themselves. They block foreign drivers of trucks or buses, burn vehicles and destroy their cargoes.

Since one year in South Africa, there are more than 200 foreigners dead in these circumstances. The politics of fear seems to work. The government remained silent about these incidents.

And when the NGO Human Rights Watch recently released a report on this road violence, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula simply replied: " The crisis is caused by a surplus of foreign drivers in the industry and many of whom are illegal immigrant. "

→ Listen: Xenophobia in South Africa, the hell of African diasporas

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