BY BAMIDELE-LUCAS MOYINOLUWA
The South African city of Soweto was thrown into tension yesterday with new xenophobic groups attacking aliens, including Nigerians.
In a protest tagged “Operation Dudula”, which started around 8am local time, at the Diepkloof hall in Soweto, they circulated posters in the town, warning non-nationals to leave the Soweto area by Wednesday, June 16.
The police was seen during the protest trying to prevent the protesters from breaking into people’s shops, although it remained unclear what steps the South African authorities would be taking on the matter, as at the time of filing this report.
A native of Soweto, participating in the protest claimed they were targeting criminals such as drug peddlers, cult members, and others while some others claimed that they wanted “undocumented immigrant business owners to be removed from the area.”
Large xenophobic attacks erupted in previous years from Soweto which is South Africa’s largest and most influential township.
Recall that Elizabeth Ndubuisi, the Deputy Director-General of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria was murdered in her hotel room in South Africa, among other killings and violence during the last pronounced wave of xenophobic attacks around July 2019.
