‘Down with Mashaba’s statements’ – Joburg residents protest against xenophobia

28 March 2017 - 13:09 By Kgaugelo Masweneng
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Various organisations gathered in the Johannesburg city centre on Tuesday to protest against xenophobia.

Marc Gbaffou‚ chairperson of the African Diaspora Forum‚ will be leading a march to draw attention to the plight of foreigners in the city.

“We won’t be handing over any memorandum‚ but we are merely raising awareness. We are expecting close to 2‚000 people to join us‚” Gbaffou said.

“We are tired of the likes of the mayor‚ Herman Mashaba‚ using migrants as a scapegoat when they can't provide services to communities. The mayor knows it's difficult to get nationality‚ so he's gunning against them to make his administration look good.”

Marc Abeoussi‚ chairperson of the Ivorian Community in SA‚ echoed him.

“Primarily we are here to say‚ enough is enough. Down with xenophobia‚ we need to act together. We want the authorities to take action against these brutal attacks‚” Abeoussi said.

“A life does not have a nationality‚ even criminality does have a nationality. It's our country as well. We should be equal and not stigmatised‚” he said as the crowd cheered “Down with Mashaba's statements”.

Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba has drawn sharp criticism for making public comments perceived to be targeting foreigners.

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