Jacob Zuma begs foreigners not to leave South Africa

Date:

President Jacob Zuma on Saturday pleaded
with foreigners to stay in South Africa as he
cancelled a state visit to Indonesia to deal with
a wave of deadly xenophobic violence at home .
Three weeks of escalating anti – foreigner
violence in South Africa have claimed at least
six lives and forced more than 5, 000
immigrants to seek refuge in makeshift camps.
The unrest, which began in the eastern port
city of Durban before spreading to other parts
of the country, carries echoes of the
xenophobic riots that gripped South Africa in
2008 when 62 people were killed .
In the latest incident , police on Saturday said a
foreigner died of stab wounds in Alexandra, a
township north of Johannesburg. The
impoverished area was the focus of much of
the day’ s violence, with officers firing rubber
bullets to disperse looters .
More than 30 arrests were made overnight
Saturday around Johannesburg alone.
Under pressure to avoid a repeat of the 2008
bloodshed, Zuma travelled to Durban to visit a
camp for foreigners displaced by the violence,
but he faced a hostile reception from the
crowd, which yelled “go home, go home ” and
“too late , too late ”.
“As government , we ’ re not saying to you ‘ go
away ’ . It is not every South African who is
saying ‘ go away ’ . It is a very small number of
people who say so , ” Zuma said at Chatsworth
camp, where he presented a cheque of 50 , 000
rand ( $ 4, 100) to help the victims of
xenophobic victims. He vowed to end the unrest and sought to
assure the crowd there was a place for
foreigners in South Africa. “Even those who
want to go home , they must know that when
we have stopped the violence they are welcome
to come back , ” Zuma said .
The South African leader had been scheduled
to fly to Indonesia on Saturday, but he
announced he was scrapping the trip “to
attend to matters at home relating to the
attacks on foreign nationals .” The decision came as alarm grew within South
Africa — and from the United Nations and
foreign capitals — over the attacks .
Neighbouring Zimbabwe , Malawi and
Mozambique have announced plans to
evacuate their citizens .
Reflecting international concern , the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said
most victims targeted “are refugees and
asylum seekers who were forced to leave their
countries due to war and persecution . ”
– ‘ Pray for peace’ –
The violence has been largely blamed on a
speech last month by King Goodwill Zwelithini,
traditional leader of the Zulus , in which he
blamed foreigners for South Africa’ s high crime
rate and said they must “take their bags and
go”.
The king has since said his words were
misinterpreted.
As the crisis raged , Zuma urged all churches to
pray for peace and friendship on Sunday .
“We know that the majority of our people
believe in human rights and peace and that
they respect the dignity of all who live in our
country, ” he said in a statement late Saturday.
“They know that where there are concerns and
differences, these should be resolved the South
African way , through dialogue, and not through
violence and intimidation . ”
The violence has sparked angry responses in
other African nations .

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Babatunde Akinsola
Babatunde Akinsolahttps://naija247news.com
Babatunde Akinsola is aNaija247news' Southwest editor. He's based in Lagos and writes on the Yoruba Nation political issues, news and investigative reports

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