A South African truck driver was swarmed and intimidated by an aggressive mob that falsely accused him of being a foreign national, simply because of the provincial registration plates on his commercial vehicle.
The victim, Letuka Mokoena, a resident of the Free State province, was operating a commercial truck outfitted with KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) registration plates when he was intercepted by a hostile group of local residents. Treating the cross-provincial vehicle as a sign of an undocumented or foreign driver, the crowd launched into a volatile confrontation.
Shaken by the sudden hostility, Mokoena withdrew his mobile phone in an attempt to document the encounter for his safety. However, members of the mob violently intervened, snatching and smashing his device to pieces to prevent any recording of the harassment.
Speaking on the aftermath of the traumatic ordeal, Mokoena expressed profound shock, admitting that he never anticipated becoming a target of the very xenophobic tensions that have plagued sections of the country’s transport industry.
