AFP reports that Human Rights Watch (HRW) indicated in a report on Monday that dozens of truck drivers in SA have died in attacks against foreigners since March 2018.  It called for stronger protection of foreign workers.  

The report was released after a recent spate of xenophobic violence fueled by economic decline and record unemployment.  Groups of SA truck drivers have allegedly assaulted foreign drivers with stones, knives, guns and petrol bombs, killing more than 200 and forcing hundreds out of their jobs.  An SA truck owners’ association quoted by the HRW reported 75 such incidents since March this year.  HRW Southern Africa director Dewa Mavhinga called on the SA government to “bring perpetrators to justice”.  Mavhinga added:  “The SA authorities are neither protecting foreign truck drivers against violence nor conducting effective investigations into those credibly implicated in attacks.”  A labour department spokesperson said they were not aware of the report, but advised that the government had appointed an inter-ministerial committee to look into the issue and had held several meetings with employers and truck drivers in Durban.  Transport minister Fikile Mbalula said after an inter-ministerial meeting in June that the crisis was caused by an “oversupply of foreign drivers in the industry”, many of whom were undocumented.

• Read the full original of the above report by BusinessLive

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