Attacks on foreigners bad for SA
Minister Sisulu said whatever the definition is of what is happening, the government would deal with it
“WE CANNOT have criminality and xenophobia in our country,” Minister of International Relations Lindiwe Sisulu told a packed audience at the South African Institute for International Affairs in Johannesburg this week, “we have a serious problem.”
Sisulu said whatever the definition is of what is happening, the government would deal with it. “No foreigner should perish on our soil while we hold the position (of a non-permanent member) on the UN Security Council,” Sisulu said, acknowledging that South Africa was representing more than itself on the Security Council.
“We are conscious of our responsibility to the continent. African diplomats played an important role in South Africa getting tenure on the Security Council,” she said.
Sisulu placed great emphasis on the importance of South Africa’s role on the Security Council, given that the UN was at the centre of global politics and South Africa wanted to be where the important decisions were taken.
“Sixty percent of matters discussed in the UN Security Council affect Africa, and we need to be a part of the decisions taken. Our voice is a strong one and we take a moral position,” Sisulu said.
South Africa takes up its position as chair of the African Union next year, and Sisulu acknowledged that the country cannot afford to have criminal and xenophobic situations breaking out, saying it was not good for the country’s image.
Sisulu was due to hold a second meeting with African ambassadors and the ministers of home affairs and police today to address the root causes of the attacks on foreign nationals.
High school learner Sibusiso Mazumba, dressed in his striped school blazer, asked Sisulu what research was being done by her department on the root causes of xenophobia, and what was underlying the xenophobic attacks on foreigners. Sisulu was so impressed by the question that Mazumba was invited to attend today’s discussions with African ambassadors at her department regarding the attacks on foreigners.
Sisulu said her department was recalibrating South Africa’s foreign policy and had been engaged in a process of introspection.
Asked what her department had done to implement the ANC resolution to downgrade relations with Israel, Sisulu said: “We have a programme in place. We no longer have an ambassador in Israel, and our mission is operating with a liaison officer.”
The Department of International Relations and Co-operation would not be replacing the ambassador, and the liaison office in Tel Aviv would have no political, trade or development co-operation mandate, she said.
It said the focus of the office would be on consular matters and facilitation of people-to-people issues.