Botswana train attacked in South Africa

[John Ashworth]

BOTSWANA TRAIN ATTACKED IN SA
Saturday, 31 May 2008

Botswana has halted train operations into South Africa at night, following two attacks involving stone-throwing by a mob near Mmega village south of the Ramatlabama border post. In the second incident, on 22 May, the locomotive’s windscreen was smashed. The driver and his assistant were injured and taken to hospital in Mafikeng. Botswana Railways (BR) spokesperson Linah Masenya told Gaberone reporter Oliver Modise that “as a result of these shocking incidents, BR has resolved to run its train going to South Africa during the day.” The paper was unable to find evidence supporting speculation that the incidents were linked to xenophobic action taking place elsewhere in South Africa at the time.

Chippa Legodimo, another Gaberone reporter, learned from Ramatlabama immigration officer-in-charge Joseph Motsumi that traffic through the border was moving normally. He had heard that “the people who attacked the train were angry that their village had gone for long without electricity.

"But why they vented their anger on our train I do not know, I am not even sure what their intentions were,” he said.

Railways Africa