DIPLOMATIC TREMOR AS ZAMBIA THREATENS SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESSES OVER BURNING OF ZAMBIAN TRUCKS.
By Hezekiah Mbewe.
Zambian government sources have revealed of a simmering diplomatic fallout after the Zambian Minister of Transport and Communications Mutotwe L Kafwaya directly wrote his South African counterpart Fikile Mbalula to complain about the burning of Zambian trucks by marauding gangs of South African truck drivers who claim their jobs have taken over by Zambian makwerekwere(a derogatory idiom for unwelcome foreigners and illegals).
Kafwaya defied diplomatic channels after sustained pressure from worried family members of Zambian truck drivers, after they accused the PF of playing dumb and double standards for fear of straining business relations with Zambia’s biggest trading partner in SADC and Sub Saharan Africa.
The sources recount that Kafwaya then wrote a blistering letter to Fikile Mbalula demanding that he moves in to protect Zambian interests as a quid pro quo for Zambia protecting South African business interests in Zambia.
“Is this what we get back from South Africa after the Zambian people hosted your kith and kin as refugees and paying a heavy price after racist forces relentlessly bombed our cities and infrastructure for almost 30 years? Well Mr Minister, we also can’t guarantee safe passage to your trucks and your business franchises here in Zambia. If our businesses are taken over through destruction, we may also consider taking over your businessess like Shoprite, Pick N Pay, Game stores and many more”,the Zambian Transport Minister threatened according to the source.
Fikile Mbalula is a temperamental and unpredictable former Minister of Sports of South Africa, who called the South African senior National Team Bafana bafana ‘a bunch of losers’ after they lost an international engagement a few years ago. It is not known how he will react to the Zambia Transport Minister’s letter.