The Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba has expressed disappointment and concern that an organisation such as Amnesty International continues to spread misinformation about the comments he recently made about foreign nationals.
Mashaba issued a statement in response to a comment made by Amnesty International’s southern African regional director, Deprose Muchena, when he tabled the organisation’s annual report at the Sunnyside Hotel in Parktown.
“It is deeply concerning that an organisation such as Amnesty International continues to spread misinformation and misquote me. I am deeply concerned to hear reports of xenophobic attacks and planned protests which aim to target foreign nationals residing within communities across Gauteng,” Mashaba said in the statement.
Read: Mashaba’s olive branch
“I would like to state outright that I condemn xenophobia and my administration will do everything in its power to prevent any outburst of xenophobic violence in our city.
“There is no place for xenophobia in the City of Johannesburg. This is a city built by and made up of migrants from all over the world. We are the pride of our country and continent, hence we cannot allow for foreign nationals to be scapegoated for the failures of previous administrations to fulfil its promises.”
Mashaba said he welcomes foreign nationals into the City and country as they buy goods, create businesses and stimulate economic growth which he said was ‘key to our vision of a prosperous and inclusive city’.
“I call on all residents living in our City, no matter where you are from, to respect the laws and not do crime. Attacks on foreign nationals is an unfortunate misdirection of the community’s demand for safety and jobs. While I sympathise with the concerns of communities, we cannot condone partaking in xenophobic action that will endanger the safety of residents. To do so would be to open the door to attacks such as those seen in 2008 in which dozens of foreign nationals were senselessly killed,” he said.
Mashaba said South Africans were justified to be angry because the government has not done enough to stimulate job creation and increase the number of opportunities for all within the economy.
He said the City will never accept lawlessness and any criminal, whether a South African national or a foreign national, must be apprehended and lawfully punished. “My administration is doing everything in its power to turn the tide on high crime rates in our city. We have already made solid inroads through increased police visibility, intelligence-led policing and through the efforts of the K9-Narcotics Unit launched towards the end of last year,” Mashaba said.
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