Former South Africa’s president, Thabo
Mbeki, on Monday, condemned the anti-immigrant protest march which was
preceded by attacks on foreign nationals in different parts of the
country.
“I must express my grave concern at events which took
place in this city last week, in the context of what was reported as an
anti-immigrant march. In that context, I want to say ‘thank you’ to
Ringo Madlingozi for what he said in the songs he rendered,” Mbeki said.
“As
South Africans, we should never forget the enormous sacrifices that
were made by the sister people of Africa to help us achieve our
liberation. We cannot now behave in a manner that treats fellow
Africans, who are now residents in our country, as enemies or unwelcome
guests, neither should we commit the offence of viewing or
characterising African migrants in our country as criminals.” Mbeki said communities must report criminal activities to police and avoid taking the law into their own hands.
“When
our communities discover or suspect criminal activities in their areas,
regardless of the nationality of the alleged criminals, it must be
reported to the [South African] Police Service. The police service
itself has an absolute obligation to follow up on these community
reports to avoid people taking the law into their own hands,” said
Mbeki.
“All of us know that our country faces many socioeconomic
challenges such as poverty and unemployment. Not even one of these
problems can or will be solved by attacking fellow Africans who have
joined us as migrants. Those who organise and participate in these
attacks, which must stop, must know that there is absolutely nothing
revolutionary, progressive, patriotic, acceptable or of service to the
people in what are, in fact, criminal activities.”
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