Monday, May 26, 2008
“The shameful acts of a few have blemished the name of South Africa through criminal acts against our brothers and sisters from other parts of the continent,” he said in a prerecorded speech broadcast on public radio and TV yesterday.
The president admitted that the country marked Africa Day, a celebration of African unity around the continent, with “our heads bowed in shame”. “Never since the birth of our democracy have we witnessed such callousness,” he stated. “As part of the reflection that Africa Day requires of all of us, we must acknowledge the events of the past two weeks as an absolute disgrace.
“The violence and criminality we have seen perpetrated by a few South Africans is opposed to everything that freedom from apartheid represents. “As South Africans, there are some things we must never forget. We must never forget that our struggle for liberation has always been both national and pan-African.” Mbeki urged the country to remember the help rendered by African countries as South Africans fought against white minority rule, as well as how the rest of the continent had contributed to SA’s economic growth.
“ Neither should we forget that many people from other African countries helped to build our liberation movement, while many in our region died because of apartheid aggression as they supported us in the struggle to defeat apartheid.” Mbeki called for unity, warning that it was “time to speak with one voice against something
which, if allowed to take root, “will take us back to a past of violent conflict, which no- one among us can afford”.
He added: “This criminal violence has besmirched the
image of South Africa.”
Mbeki said two weeks of rioting, which has left 50 dead
and 35 000 displaced, had soiled the reputation of the country’s leaders, such as Nelson Mandela. “These leaders have always understood they are South Africans and Africans – they are both local and continental. They would never countenance such savagery as we have seen in the past two weeks.” Mbeki thanked all who had
provided assistance in dealing with the crisis, urging them to continue to “reject and isolate the criminals in our midst and extend a hand of friendship to our foreign guests, who are nothing more than our fellow human beings”.
Angry locals have complained that foreigners provide
cheap labour, take government housing and commit crimes – concerns that Mbeki said should be addressed through democratic structures and not violence. “While the government seeks, always, to address people’s
concerns, nobody will be allowed to pervert those concerns by targeting vulnerable people from other countries.” The president said civic education was needed to deal with the flare-up of violence
"We must all assist one another to understand the phenomenon of migration, its global nature, its causes and how others elsewhere in the world manage it …"
Source: The Star, May 26, 2008