Mayor announces new steps to stop xenophobia

22-04-2015

 

The City of Johannesburg was holding discussions with civil society organisations with a view to devising sustainable ways and rolling out campaigns to educate the public about xenophobia and the need for social cohesion in the country, Executive Mayor Parks Tau said night.
 

The Mayor was speaking to the media on the sidelines of a silent vigil against xenophobia at Constitution Hill in Braamfontein, Johannesburg.

Mayor Tau was among hundreds of people who attended the vigil in solidarity with foreigners who have been subjected to xenophobic attacks in Durban and Johannesburg over the past two weeks and to take a stand against the scourge.

The Mayor said the City was also working closely with the Gauteng Provincial Government to explore effective ways to put the skids on xenophobic violence and tendencies.
 

“We are saddened by what has been happening in our country. South Africans of goodwill must stand up and make their voices heard. This is not who we are as South Africans,” he said.

Earlier, Gauteng Premier David Makhura announced that the provincial government would support all initiatives to clamp down on xenophobia.
 

“If there are any lessons to be learned from the attacks of 2008, it is that there should not have been a break in the campaign to root out this hatred among ourselves. We are now going to have an ongoing campaign that says: ‘No to Xenophobia’.”

Among those who attended the vigil were CEO of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Nicky Newton-King, Brand SA Chairperson Chichi Maponya, CEO of ArcelorMittal Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita, former Cosatu General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi and veteran lawyer George Bizos.
 

Vavi announced that an anti-xenophobia march would take place in Johannesburg tomorrow (Thursday April 23) to denounce the xenophobic violence that had been gripping the country.

He said South Africans must not allow themselves to be defined by the actions of a minority group of “hot heads”.

“The people who are behind these attacks do not represent us,” he said.
 

Seven people – including three South Africans – were killed in the latest wave of xenophobic violence in the country.

These include Emmanuel Sithole, a Mozambican informal trader, who was stabbed to death by four men in broad daylight in Alexandra. His murder, captured by a Sunday Times photographer, shocked the nation.

President Jacob Zuma earlier strongly criticised xenophobic acts and ordered the military to be deployed to identified hot spots to quell the violence.