Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe on Saturday expressed shock and disgust
at attacks on immigrants in neighbouring South
Africa and said his government was working to
bring back home affected Zimbabwean citizens.
At least four people have been killed in a wave of
anti-immigrant violence in South Africa that started
two weeks ago in the port city of Durban and
spread to Johannesburg.
Mugabe said during a speech at a football stadium
in the capital Harare to mark 35 years of
Zimbabwe's independence that all Africans in
South Africa should be treated with dignity.
"I would want now to express our sense of shock,
disgust as we abhor the incidences which
happened in Durban," Mugabe said.
"The act of treating other Africans in that horrible
way can never be condoned by anyone," said the
91-year-old, speaking on behalf of the regional
Southern African Development Community and
African Union, both of which he currently chairs.
An estimated one million Zimbabweans live in
South Africa having escaped an economic crisis
and political violence at home over the last 15
years.
Periodic outbreaks of anti-immigrant violence in
South Africa have been blamed on high
unemployment, widespread poverty and glaring
income disparities.
The Malawian government has hired buses to
repatriate 500 of its nationals, Information Minister
Kondwani Nankhumwa said on Friday. He urged
South Africa to provide greater protection for
immigrants, echoing demands from China and the
African Union.
Mugabe said his government had put in place
measures to bring back its citizens but did not give
details.
The state-owned Herald newspaper reported that
Zimbabwe planned to repatriate 1,000 citizens and
was setting up a receiving centre at Beitbridge, the
biggest border post with South Africa.
No comments:
Post a Comment