Xenophobic protests: anger simmering
NCALO: ‘THE MESSAGE IS THAT ATTACKS ARE JUSTIFIED’
Foreigners get angry when government officials refuse to receive their memorandum.
Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba blamed for violence.
Foreign nationals were left angry at the Union Buildings in Pretoria when government officials refused to come out to receive their memorandum against xenophobia yesterday.
More than 100 foreign and local residents marched through the capital city against the recent attacks, but were left stranded on the Union Buildings’ green lawn as they failed to hand over their memorandum.
Spokesperson for Congolese nationals Prince Mpinda expressed disappointment towards President Jacob Zuma, accusing the government of supporting xenophobia.
“We had a peaceful march, but as we saw a few weeks ago, Jacob Zuma came out in public, saying the xenophobic protest was a well-organised march. They refused to receive the memorandum, which is a simple message to every foreigner in this country that this is pure xenophobia,” Mpinda told The Citizen.
The Tshwane metro police (TMPD) said a case of an illegal march was opened since the organisers failed to produce a letter from the proposed recipient of the memorandum.
“The march was not approved, because they failed to produce that letter, which is a prerequisite before we can issue a compliance letter. They didn’t make an appointment with anyone at the Union Buildings,” TMPD spokesperson Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba said.
TMPD and police officers, however, escorted the group throughout their demonstration, but Mahamba said it was only to secure citizens that were not participating in the march.
“We couldn’t let them walk unguarded and we had to make sure we protected businesses, motorists and people working in the CBD. The march was indeed peaceful, but had anything gone wrong, we were going to take action against the organisers.”
Themba Ncalo, convener of the march and chairperson of the Coalition of Civics Against Xenophobia, said the refusal of the memorandum sent a message that xenophobic attacks were justified. He resorted to reading the memorandum to the crowd.
One of the demands was to investigate and prosecute Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba, as foreign nationals believed his statement against illegal immigrants sparked the violent unrest across Gauteng.
Ncalo said: “We demand strengthened measures to ensure crimes against foreign residents and foreign businesses are treated as seriously as those against SA citizens – especially murder.”