Message of coexistence is vital to SA

I WAS humbled when IFP president Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi said that attacking our brothers and sisters from the African continent was not a solution, but that coexistence was required.

He said that during his tenure as Home Affairs minister, research showed that xenophobia could only be prevented where migrants were assimilated into receptive environments. “There had to be give and take, and the different cultures had to interact on all levels rather than remaining separate, living parallel lives.”

He also said that no South African is above the law, and that the founding fathers of the liberation Struggle yearned to create a free South Africa which would be home to all those found within its borders.

“The same applies when it comes to social cohesion and reconciliation,” he said.

I thank Shenge for reminding our country that we travelled a long road to be where we are today in terms of our liberation. Many of us have forgotten the role played by our brothers from other parts of Africa, who literally fed us and provided shelter when days were extremely dark during the height of apartheid. NONTOBEKO NTOKOZO SELEPE Pimville