The Archbishop of Cape Town has called for South Africans to join him in the “One Million March Against Xenophobic Attacks”
The Archbishop of Cape Town has called for South Africans to join him in the “One Million March Against Xenophobic Attacks” scheduled for 24 April 2015 in Pretoria and “join acts of public witness this week against xenophobic violence.” On 30 March 2015 a wave of attacks on foreigners and whites began in Durban and has spread to townships around Johannesburg. The most recent spate of violence began after the Zulu king, Goodwill Zwelithini, told his people that foreigners should “pauck and leave”, while President Jacob Zuma’s eldest son, Edward, was reported in the press to have said that foreigners were “taking over the country.” On 16 April 2015 the Los Angeles Times reported that two Ethiopian brothers were locked inside their small shop in a shipping container and set on fire last Friday in a township near Durban, while South Africa’s Sunday Times newspaper this week published the images of a Mozambican man murdered by a mob in the Alexandra township in Johannesburg. Last week Archbishop Thabo Makgoba released a statement calling for an end to the violence. Foreigners are God’s people too and deserve the dignity and protection we enjoy. This is not ubuntu, it is painful and deeply regrettable.” He asked all South Africans to join him in non-violent demonstrations protesting the attacks. “Please pray for an end to xenophobia and for tolerance. Let us be voices of reason, acknowledging the anxiety and desperation which leads to attacks on foreigners. Let us look at sustainable ways of removing the conditions which cause these attacks, and each commit ourselves to one act of witness to change the situation,” he said.
