Sowore Reacts As Nigerians Disrupt South African Bolt Services And Other Businesses

The African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Omoyele Sowore, has condemned the disruption of South African ride-hailing services and other businesses in response to the online ‘order war.’

Naija News reports that in response to a recent “order war” initiated by South Africans, Nigerian social media users caused a surge in taxi fares in South Africa by organizing drivers of ride-hailing apps to converge at specific locations.

This action comes after South Africans took to X (formerly Twitter) to boast about deliberately wasting Nigerian drivers’ time by placing and cancelling ride requests from their country.

Many Nigerians escalated their response, extending their efforts to other businesses in South Africa, including restaurants that accept payment on arrival, in a coordinated effort to disrupt operations as a form of retaliation.

In a post via his X handle, Sowore described the actions of Nigerians as unacceptable, stating that ‘Cyber Xenophobia’ is as dangerously reprehensible as mental and physical Xenophobia.

He wrote, “I totally condemn the cyber war on South African internet infrastructure by a group of netizens from ‘Nigeria’ disrupting online transportation services for a majority of fellow Africans because of the misconduct of a few South Africans. It is unacceptable, and I want it stopped henceforth. “Cyber Xenophobia” is as dangerously reprehensible as mental and physical Xenophobia! There are millions of South Africans, as well as Nigerians in the diaspora, that would be adversely affected by this terrible conduct.”