Staff Writer
After at least 21 cargo trucks were set ablaze in various parts of the nation over the course of five days, South Africa sent the army into four of its provinces.
Armed men frequently forced truck drivers out of their vehicles before lighting the trucks on fire in the middle of busy roads.
Nkoskhona, a truck driver from KwaZulu, Natal, who delivers petrol to numerous filling stations across the nation, expressed his relief.
“We’ll feel safe, and our families will be at ease, because we were not safe on the roads,” he said.
The notion that the truck burnings are acts of economic sabotage against South Africa was raised last week by the police minister. At least 12 persons were being sought by the police.
On Sunday, July 9?, the second anniversary of the start of the 2021 protests, it appears that vehicle burnings began.
Police claimed they had no proof that the burning of vehicles this week was related to the unrest in 2021 or to Zuma, but it is obvious that the country is on edge as a result of the court’s ruling in Zuma’s case.
Former president Jacob Zuma, 81, was not in South Africa and had gone to Russia for medical care, according to Mzwanele Manyi, a spokesperson for the former leader. Zuma’s return date was not specified by Manyi.
According to a statement made by minister Cele and distributed by the official news agency of the South African government, “These are organized and sophisticated operations.”
No fatalities or significant injuries have been reported by the authorities as a result of trucks being set on fire.
In South Africa, burning trucks as a method of protest against the government’s failure to provide basic services is not new, but this week’s rate of burning trucks was especially high.
Despite denials from authorities, the action was taken on worries of increased violence following a court judgment that might send former president Jacob Zuma back to prison.
The Department of Corrections has not indicated whether it will send Zuma back to prison to complete a 15-month jail term for contempt of court, but his initial imprisonment two years ago sparked a week of violent protests that resulted in more than 350 fatalities, making it some of the deadliest violence South Africa had seen in 30 years.
