South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday said his government apologises for the recent xenophobic attacks against African migrants and promised to ensure that his compatriots are more receptive of peoples of other countries on the continent.
Ramaphosa said this after thousands of Zimbabweans booed him as he tried to address a funeral service for former president Robert Mugabe in Harare.
Twelve people were killed and hundreds of shops destroyed in and around South Africa’s Johannesburg last month in a spate of attacks against foreigners fuelled by soaring unemployment and poverty.
“I would like to express my regret and apologise for what has happened in South Africa,”
He added: “What happened in South Africa goes against what Comrade Mugabe, Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo stood for.”
He said South Africans are generally not xenophobic and “are not against people from other countries.”
“We are working very hard to encourage our people in South Africa to embrace people from other African countries,” Ramaphosa said.
The attacks have led to hundreds of foreigners from Malawi, Nigeria and Zimbabwe requesting their governments to be repatriated back to their countries.
JN/APA