Mayor's plea over attacks on foreigners
NON-SOUTH Africans should not be viewed as foreigners but as Africans of foreign origin.
This was the message from Lawrence Mapoulo, the executive mayor of the Capricorn district municipality in Limpopo when he denounced the attack on Zimbabweans.
More than 3000 Zimbabweans fled to hide in bushes after they were attacked by residents of Extensions 71, 72, 75 and 76 near Polokwane last week. Six houses belonging to the Zimbabweans have been torched during the attacks.
Last Monday, Zimbabwean Godfrey Sibanda was stoned to death by an angry mob that accused him of raping a 5-year-old girl at Extension 71. The residents also accused the Zimbabweans of stealing from them and also taking their jobs.
"If Sibanda was responsible for the rape then other foreigners must not be punished for his crime," Mapoulo said.
"We condemn any form of violence against our brothers and sisters from outside the country. We will never tolerate xenophobic attacks."
Among other things, Mapoulo said he would convene a meeting with residents of the violence-torn areas to explain to them the dangers of xenophobic attacks.
"I will also convene a meeting with the 'foreigners' to discuss with them what is expected of them because we cannot tolerate those of them engaging in crime," he said.
The total number of those arrested for the attacks is 12.
An alleged ring leader in the attacks, Tekano Mamabolo, 35, was arrested last Wednesday and appeared in court last Friday. He was remanded in custody until his next court appearance on Friday.
Police spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi said 20 of the victims, including five children whose ages range between 1 and 5 years, had been housed at the Seshego police station.
He said there were those who came to the station in the evenings to sleep there and would leave during the day.
"Those coming in the night are taking advantage of the shelter provided to them but we cannot chase them away. We are in contact with the municipal disaster management unit to get them a proper place to stay," Mulaudzi said.
He said the South African Council of Churches was providing food to the victims.
"They get breakfast, lunch and dinner from the SACC while the disaster management of the municipality provides them with blankets," he said.
"From the SAPS side at Seshego, we have accommodated mothers who have children at the victim support centre at the station with better facilities."
ANC provincial spokesperson David Masondo said yesterday the party would respect the principle of innocent until proven guilty.
"But our people should know that there's no one who is above the law in this country.
"If found guilty by the law, the ANC will act against any member because that person would have contravened the policy of the organisation," Masondo said.
Bolander
I feel very, very sorry for these foreigneirs in our country - most of them are decent people only looking for a job and a better life. I am sure that if the situation in their own countries were better, they would have rather stayed in their own countries with their families and friends. There are a minority though that are criminals, but you cannot classify all as criminals. These are human beings - and with the way our country is heading to, we may well find ourselves having to flee to another country one day as refugees. BUT, I must say, I can understand that people are angry and frustrated because it seems that these refugees are taking away our resources, i.e. jobs - the government should relook their border control, the amount of refugees coming into our country illegally is totally unacceptable - we cannot afford to look after all of Africa's refugees - however, hurting and killing them is not the solution - have mercy on these poor people, the way you would want someone to be merciful to you if you find yourself in their shoes some day ...Report Abuse
ApelMankotsana
As long as the government does not investigate the root causes of these attacks, we will still see more.Report Abuse