File photo of President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa addresses a public meeting PHOTO: RODGER BOSCH/AFP
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday in a series of tweets condemned the xenophobic attacks and the violence in his country.
The president said in order to put an end to the violence, he is holding a meeting with his ministers.
He also stressed that there is no justification for the attacks by South Africans on foreigners resident in the country.
“I condemn the violence that has been spreading around a number of our provinces in the strongest terms. I’m convening the ministers in the security cluster today to make sure that we keep a close eye on these acts of wanton violence and find ways of stopping them.
“The people of our country want to live in harmony; whatever concerns or grievances we may have, we need to handle them in a democratic way. There can be no justification for any South African to attack people from other countries.
“We express our deep pain, support, solidarity and love to the families, friends and loved ones of all those who have lost their lives in the last month (Uyinene Mrwetyana, Leighandre Jegels, Nolunde Vumsindo, Meghan Cremer, Jesse Hess to mention but a few).
“Our security forces are on high alert. Whilst in no way, can we take away the sense of deep loss and unbearable pain you experience, as a country we commit ourselves to continue to work tirelessly to building the kind of South Africa, where indeed women and children will be safe,” his tweets read.
