SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki condems xenophobic attacks, thousands march in Jonannesburg against the violence
Record ID:
452995
SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki condems xenophobic attacks, thousands march in Jonannesburg against the violence
- Title: SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki condems xenophobic attacks, thousands march in Jonannesburg against the violence
- Date: 25th May 2008
- Summary: (W3) JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (MAY 24, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING DOWNTOWN WITH BANNERS READING "FREE MARKET, FREE IMMIGRATION, FREE SOUTH AFRICA" AND "XENOPHOBIA HURTS LIKE APARTHEID" PEOPLE WATCHING AS PROTESTERS MARCH MORE OF PROTESTERS MARCHING THROUGH THE CITY VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING AND CHANTING SLOGANS (SOUNDBITE) (English) NUHR SHURIE, SOMALIAN REFUGEE, SAYING: "We are scared because we have nowhere to stay and the people they are attacking us too much, so we are suffering very much because they are burning us, they are looting us, and they chasing us from everywhere, so we have nowhere to run, we have no country, we have no government, and we have no ambassadors here. Those with ambassadors and governments they have already gone to their homes. We are the only people who are suffering here now." (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNIDENTIFIED LOCAL RESIDENT, SAYING: "It's not good to kill a black African. They must stop this thing, it's nonsense. We don't like this thing at all. I don't like this thing that is happening. They must not kill each other." MORE OF THE MARCH PEOPLE WATCHING THE MARCH MAN WATCHING PLACARD SHOWING: "FOREIGNERS ARE SCAPEGOATS FOR GOVERNMENT FAILURE" PLACARD SHOWING: "STOP SENSELESS KILLINGS" PEOPLE LISTENING AT RALLY (SOUNDBITE) (English) MINISTER OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY GERALDINE FRASER-MOLEKETI, SAYING: "And we come together to say that no one will push us into a scourge of hatred, into a scourge of violence. We will simply and do reject that with utter contempt and our coming together here today is to say that as Africans, we unite and we unite so proudly, Amandla Awethu." CROWD CHANTING AMANDLA
- Embargoed: 9th June 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: South Africa
- Country: South Africa
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA5E6JZ9UPGWSX7WWQZ95H0VOQA
- Story Text: President Thabo Mbeki says South Africans should not turn on other Africans and pledged that his government was committed to ending the xenophobic violence that has plagued the country for 13 days. In Johannesburg, thousands take to the streets to call for the xenophobic attacks to end.
South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki on Saturday (May 24) condemned the ongoing xenophobic attacks against African migrants and said South Africans should not turn on other Africans.
Mbeki was speaking in Healdtown in Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape, where he delivered the key note address at the Historic Schools Restoration Project event.
"Today we are faced with a disgrace, a humiliating disgrace for our nation where you have a handful of people, a minority in our communities that decide, that decide to commit crimes against fellow Africans. That is something that we have to act against very firmly and stop," Mbeki said.
The South African government has been criticised for its slow reaction to the violence, the worst since apartheid ended 14 years ago, and for not addressing the poverty that is widely blamed for the bloodshed. At least 50 African migrants have been killed and tens of thousands have been displaced since the violence started 13 days ago.
"It's not something we know, these schools are important to be rebuilt, to be relaunched, to get them to occupy the place that they used to occupy, among other things to communicate the message that indeed we are not only South African but we also are African," Mbeki said.
In Johannesburg, thousands of people took to the streets calling for the end of xenophobic violence.
Demonstrators, singing and chanting, carried placards that read, "Free market, free immigration, free South Africa" and "Xenophobia hurts like apartheid".
There was a heavy police presence as demonstrators made their way to some of the areas hardest hit by the violence.
"We are scared because we have nowhere to stay and the people they are attacking," said Somalian refugee Nuhr Shurie. "Those with ambassadors and governments they have already gone to their homes. We are the only people who are suffering here now."
"It's not good to kill a black African. They must stop this thing, it's nonsense. We don't like this thing at all. I don't like this thing that is happening, they must not kill each other," added a local resident at the march.
Minister of Public Safety and Security Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi also attended the march.
"And we come together to say that no one will push us into a scourge of hatred, into a scourge of violence. We will simply and do reject that with utter contempt and on coming together here today is to say that as Africans, we unite and we unite so proudly, Amandla Awethu," she said.
The conflict started in Johannesburg's Alexandra township on May 11, and has spread to Cape Town and the eastern port city of Durban.
Mobs attacked foreign migrants and blamed them for taking their jobs and fuelling crime. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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