South African High Commissioner to Namibia, Mavivi Myakayaka-Manzini, said she has not yet received any reports so far about Namibian nationals falling victim to the latest wave of xenophobic attacks in South Africa where up to seven migrants from other African countries were killed and 300 wounded.
Speaking on Monday during her country’s 21st Freedom Day commemoration, Myakayaka-Manzini extended her government’s condolences to those who lost their loved ones and wished them a speedy recovery.
Myakayaka-Manzini said Namibia and South Africa enjoy warm and fraternal relations that are characterised by regular and increasing trade and political interactions.
She congratulated Namibia for having successful and peaceful elections last November and wished the new government well as it continues to deliver basic services to the people and play its rightful role in the region.
Myakayaka-Manzini said Africans who migrated to South Africa fled from the areas affected by the recent wave of xenophobic violence. “Temporal shelters have been set up to accommodate displaced foreign nationals. The recent attacks on foreign nationals particularly fellow Africans from various countries are a threat to our historical, hard-won achievements as a nation,” she said.
This year’s celebrations under the theme ‘Celebrating the Third Decade of our Freedom through Accelerating Radical Economic Transformation,’ took place against the backdrop of a spate of anti-immigrant attacks earlier this month in which a number of people lost their lives.
Freedom Day marks 21 years since all races in the country won the right to vote in the country’s first free and fair elections that included the black majority in 1994, ushering in a new democratic dispensation that saw Nelson Mandela as South Africa’s first black president after centuries of white minority rule.
Reports indicated some foreign nationals are still afraid to return to their former residential areas in Chatsworth township of Durban and other trouble spots in the country for fear of being attacked again.
Myakayaka-Manzini said the South African government would do everything within its power to ensure the safety of all citizens and foreign nationals irrespective of their status.
“Similarly, foreign nationals must meet all legislative and regulatory requirements as prescribed by our immigration laws. No one has the right to take the law into their own hands. Any case of wrongdoing whether by South African or foreign nationals must be reported to the police,” she stated.
South African President Jacob Zuma has assigned the ministers of Home Affairs and State Security to address the violence that has broken out in parts of the country particularly in KwaZulu-Natal and some parts of Gauteng.
Measures include the establishment of an inter-departmental task team to coordinate the response.
She said a panel of experts has been set up to advise the government on the integration of foreigners into communities on an ongoing basis. Additional law enforcement officers have been mobilised and deployed to the affected areas to enforce the law and prevent further attacks.
Myakayaka-Manzini said the government is working closely with the UNHCR, UNICEF and non-governmental organisations to provide food, psychosocial and other support to those affected.
“The repatriation of those foreign nationals that want to go back to their countries of origin is not the immediate wish of the South African Government but in the instance that there are those that want to be repatriated, the government will work with those nationals, diplomatic missions and the UN to facilitate their repatriation and issue them with proper documentation to make sure that they are repatriated safely.”
She said a number of marches have been taken place already under the theme “No to xenophobia.”
Myakayaka-Manzini said after 21 years the tangible proof of freedom from the legacy of political clutches is still not felt by all South Africans.
“The budget speech of 2015 acknowledges there are still people living in shacks, there are schools without sanitation and there are still patients without care. Whilst the national development plan has been agreed upon, there is still hard work ahead in its implementation as we pursue Vision 2030. Against this background the need to intensify efforts to address socio-economic constraints, create work opportunities and broaden participation of all South Africans cannot be ignored.”