Johannesburg – President Jacob Zuma called for an end to the killing linked to the xenophobic attacks on Wednesday that has left five people dead in the Durban area, and put parts of Johannesburg on edge.

“I think this now must stop, because we can’t continue killing one another,” said Zuma in a pre-recorded message broadcast countrywide on public radio and television channels from Wednesday afternoon.

“What’s happening in our country isn’t acceptable,” said Zuma on the SABC Afrikaans news. “We condemn this that people are attacked, and killed.’’

As his pre-recorded message was playing, Johannesburg’s metro police and SA Police Service officers were in a joint operation positioned near hostels south east of Johannesburg and in other hot spots around the city, after bricks were thrown at an Ethiopian man, passing motorists’ cars were stoned and many shops in the CBD were shuttered.

In Durban and surrounds, national police commissioner Riah Phiyega said as many as 800 police officers were fanned around trouble spots in the province, which included Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Isipingo after the five deaths, as well as looting.

Thousands of foreigners have been evacuated to safety in KwaZulu-Natal and on Wednesday said they were living in difficult conditions, with one man in Isipingo saying up to 70 men were living in one tent.

Zuma continued: “We can’t accept that when there are challenges, we then use violence, particularly to our brothers and sisters from the continent. We’ve said before, that when we were in trouble, they helped us to fight our own liberation. They didn’t chase us away. And, therefore, it’s important for us to bear that in mind.”

He said the government was aware of the “frustrations” people in South Africa had been voicing.

“Perhaps as government we haven’t been very quick in addressing these issues.’’

He had asked three ministers to address the “issue’’ and to find ways of avoiding friction so that people would not take their frustrations out on foreigners.

He conveyed his condolences to the victims of xenophobia, and to those who had lost their loved ones.

“As Africans, as people who are belonging to the same continent we need to find a way and the government is working hard to find a way where there will be co-existence, properly without depriving people of certain opportunities, these matters must be discussed properly. “We have seen the anger, we accept that people are frustrated, we’re calling for calm, that we should solve these problems.”

KwaZulu-Natal police said earlier almost 80 people had been arrested in the violence so far.

The province’s Premier Senzo Mchunu said: “There are incidences of criminality which involve foreign nationals and there’ve been arrests. We’ve also found that there is animosity of foreigners owning businesses in the community and people start to wonder how they succeed when they haven’t succeeded.

Zuma’s own son Edward has been accused of fanning flames of xenophobia with comments such as: “We accept foreign nationals that are in the country legally and contributing to the South African economy with their skills. But, we don’t accept foreign nationals that shoot our mothers and sisters’’.

Johannesburg Metro Police Department spokesperson Wayne Minnaar said on Wednesday evening after Zuma’s comments that the joint deployment in the CBD would be to prevent any possibility of attacks on foreigners.

“Any form of violence directed at any member of the community will not be tolerated,’’ he said.

The safety and wellbeing of all in South Africa would be upheld.

State Security Minister David Mahlobo said: “Don’t let people use our name to commit criminal acts in our country, whether you’re South African or a foreign national. We’ve heard that local traders say that foreigners are taking their jobs. We want to tell you that we’re on top of the situation, we know that we’re dealing with a big problem.’’

Addressing Parliament yesterday, addressing the nation in Parliament yesterday, he said no amount of frustration or anger could ever justify the attacks on foreign nationals and the looting of their shops.

“We condemn the violence in the strongest possible terms. The attacks violate all the values that South Africa embodies, especially the respect for human life, human rights, human dignity and ubuntu,” he said.

“Our country stands firmly against all intolerances such as racism, xenophobia, homophobia and sexism.”

He appealed for calm and an end to violence.

“Any problems or issues of concern to South African citizens must be resolved peacefully and through dialogue,” he said. “The police have been directed to work round the clock to protect both foreign nationals and citizens, and to arrest looters and those committing acts of violence”.

He urged residents to assist police by providing information on incidents that had taken place so perpetrators could be brought to justice.

Zuma said while he strongly condemned the attacks, he was sympathetic to the concerns of citizens.

“We reiterate our view that South Africans are generally not xenophobic. If they were, we wouldn’t have such a high number of foreign nationals who have been successfully integrated into communities all over our country, in towns, city and villages,” he said.

He emphasised that while some foreign nationals had been arrested for various crimes, it was misleading and wrong to label or regard all foreigners as being involved in crime.

“In addition, not all foreign nationals who reside in our country are here illegally.”

He thanked religious organisations and non-governmental organisations for their assistance and said the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees would also offer support.

“We look forward to celebrations of Africa Day in every province on the 25th of May”. – Sapa

 

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