An appeal has gone out reiterating the KZN government’s support of peaceful co-existence between locals and foreign nationals, after attacks were reported against foreigners in Gauteng.
“The government of KwaZulu-Natal has noted with grave concern the unfortunate attacks against the foreign nationals in Gauteng and has called on the people of the province to continue leaving peacefully with our brothers and sisters from the continent,” read a statement from KZN MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Mxolisi Kaunda, who is the chairman of KZN inter ministerial committee on xenophobia, following concerns raised by the representatives of the foreign nationals in Durban at the weekend.
Kaunda said SA and KZN were part of a global community and respected United Nations’ prescripts on how we should relate to the foreign nationals who are here for different reasons, including freeing conflicts in their home countries.
He added that there was no reason for the people of KZN to quarrel and attack foreign nationals just on the basis that there were not South Africans or for any other reason. “Premier of KZN, Willies Mchunu has said, time and again, that foreign nationals are our brothers and sisters. We, therefore, should do everything possible to ensure that we co-exist with them peacefully.
“It is illegal and a crime to attack foreign nationals for whatever reasons. If they commit acts of crime, it is the work of the police to deal with them as ordinary criminals, not as foreign nationals.
“We urge the people of KZN to organise people to fight against the scourge of xenophobia. We also wish to inform foreign nationals not to panic because police and other people’s structures have been primed to prevent an act of violence against them,” he said.
He said the provincial government and eThekwini Municipality have set up programmes to promote peaceful co-existence among the people of the province and African migrants. He warned ‘opportunists’ who might seek to stoke the fires of tension between foreign nationals for their nefarious objectives, including looting their businesses, saying this is illegal and would be treated as criminal acts.
“We wish to warn that security agencies have been placed on full alert to deal decisively with the acts of criminality, irrespective of who perpetuated it. We call on our community leaders at all levels to work with the community and convince them of the need for peaceful co-existence between our foreign nationals and the people of KZN”, he said.
The inter ministerial committee had rolled out programmes to promote good relations between foreign nationals and the people of KZN since the attacks of March 2015 which included community dialogues, social interactions between foreign nationals and KZN residents, through sports and cultural games to promote social cohesion, among others.
He urge locals not to do anything to reverse the gains made and let us work for the promotion of general peaceful co-existence with the foreign nationals.
Kaunda said the SA government was working flat out to ensure those foreign nationals in the country were here legally and respected its laws regarding work permits and employment.
