Zimbabweans living in South Africa are at a great risk of a new wave of xenophobic attacks perpetrated by a section of South Africans on social media.
A hash tag under the moniker ZimbabweansMustFall is currently trending on micro blogging site, twitter with South Africans accusing Zimbabweans of committing a series of criminal activities.
“Let the fire burn if you know of Zimbabwean criminality use #ZimbabweansMustFall and share it below, be it the stealing of infrastructure, hijacking, robbery, killing etc. we are tied enough is enough,” wrote one Lerato Pillay
Another South African who goes by the name Distillo condemned the calls saying they were hypocritical.
“How much is this hypocrisy you possess?? Same people who were purporting and lamenting injustice Trump was evicting Mexicans think it’s justifiable to do it against Zimbabweans. Your aspirations to look like you are masters is crippling your mental pathways I’m telling you” Distillo wrote.
Concurring with Distillo was one Bridget who said the hashtags do not fix South Africa but promotes hatred.
“It’s sad to see such hashtags as if our own kind do not commit crime. Our women and children are currently being killed by our very own South Africans. Are these hashtags meant to fix our country or promote hatred?
Zimbabweans who responded to the tweets had no kind words for those stirring the cause.
“#ZimbabweansMustFall is only ridiculous to think South Africa doesn’t need Zim or vice versa. Zim is SA’s gateway to Africa, Zim imports from SA more than any country. Etc it only needs an intelligent person to understand that concept. Majority of Zimbo earn an honest living in SA (sic)” responded Wellence Mujuru
Responding on the same platform one Bonnie Chimanikire said Zimbabweans survived political violence therefore will not fall anytime soon.
“We survived genocide, political violence, Mugabe, economic hardships, Zanu PF and Covid 19.Don’t kid yourselves, Zimbabweans aren’t falling anytime soon. You keep trying to bury us but you forget that we are seeds,” said Chimanikire
Many Zimbabweans have left the country in search of greener pastures owing to the deteriorating economy and have been on the receiving end from South Africans who are claiming foreigners are taking their jobs.
This is not the first time South Africans have raised their frustration over foreigners trekking to take up jobs in their country following violent attacks in 2008 and 2019.
