ICC told of attacks on foreign truckers in SA

Groups representing foreign drivers have reported that several of their members were attacked under the cover of the general looting that took place in the South African provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng last week. ‘There is a danger that this situation spirals out of control, and South African drivers operating in neighbouring countries get targeted for tit-for-tat violence,’ says Advocate Simba Chitando, who is representing several foreign truck drivers associations in seeking police or army protection against attackers in SA. A complaint has been lodged with the International Criminal Court which says it is monitoring the situation. Moneyweb reports that more than 200 foreign truck drivers have been murdered in SA in recent years. Foreign truckers point the finger at groups such as the All Truck Drivers’ Foundation, which has called for a ban on foreign drivers, but has publicly condemned violence against foreign truck drivers. The Zimbabwe Truckers Association last year brought an urgent case against the government calling for armed escorts for foreign truck drivers operating in SA.

Full Moneyweb report

Prominent Zimbabwean businessman Busisa Moyo has warned that the recent unrest in SA ‘will affect the entire region’ and ‘we will all feel it in the next few days’. The chairperson of Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency, also advised Zimbabweans to ‘conserve cash, food and other necessities’. A TimesLIVE report notes that Butler Tambo, an economic analyst, has blamed the violence on Pretoria’s failure to address the country’s status as ‘the most unequal in the world’. ‘The insurance industry in SA might not survive this carnage. Capital flight will rise and the much needed FDI (foreign direct investment) will become elusive,’ he said. Tambo added that diaspora remittances from SA will significantly drop, ‘meaning massive and abject poverty for Zimbabwean families reliant on remittances from that country’. Sekai Kuvarika, the CEO of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), said the closure of the major routes used for the transportation of raw materials and other goods means that production will be affected. ‘This in turn might see a dip in capacity utilisation in the short to medium term,’ Kuvarika said. The latest figures from CZI reveal that Zimbabwe imports 58% of its raw materials from SA while just 7% are imported from other SADC countries.

– TimesLIVE