Xenophobic attacks: Mayor calls for calm and tolerance
Ekurhuleni mayor Clr Mondli Gungubele has called for calm and tolerance as the ongoing xenophobic attacks in KwaZulu-Natal threaten to spread to other parts of the country, including his own city.
Speaking during his visits to some of the areas where violence was threatening to flare up, Gungubele condemned the senseless attacks on at least three people in the Makause and Marathon informal settlements in Germiston – calling these acts of crime.
Foreigners were attacked when a group of people tried to rob their shops last night and this morning.
They were all taken to hospital.
“Makause and Marathon informal settlements were the first to experience instability last night,” said Gungubele.
“However, following my visit to the two areas this morning, I got the feeling that this was not xenophobia, but rather crime.
“It is clear to me that this has nothing to do with hatred between people, but rather looting the shops of these African brothers and sisters.
“I also got the sense that most of the locals are not in support of the looting.
“They were lamenting the situation, telling me how the foreign nationals have made their lives easier by opening shops that offer them low prices and credit deals when they do not have money.
“What is happening in the country right now is completely unnecessary.
“As a city we are determined to work hard with our communities to ensure that we put concrete plans in place to deal with any violence perpetuated against foreign nationals in the area.”
Gungubele added that the metro had already activated a joint operation centre to deal with the status quo.
“Communities must join us, as government and NGOs, in frustrating the efforts of those in our communities who are hell-bent on fermenting the flames of crime, hatred and intolerance,” he said.
According to the mayor, to win the struggle against xenophobia communities must learn to live ”in unity, instead of tolerance”.
“Unity is what must drive us; it teaches us to live in harmony, with the acceptance that we all need each other to survive.”
He warned that the ongoing violence is not good for the economy of the country “because no investor would want to settle in an unstable environment”.
“At the end of the day we are threatening the future of our country and its people,” he concluded.
