Zwelithini, Zuma speak out on violence

21 April 2015 - 02:17 By Nivashni Nair, Nathi Olifant and Hlengiwe Nhlabathi

The king bowed to pressure yesterday and condemned the xenophobic violence, while the president said the ANC had not done enough to address the causes of the scourge. After weeks of outrage at his comments that foreigners needed to pack up and go, King Goodwill Zwelithini said: "We need to make sure no more foreigners are attacked."We must stop these vile acts," he told about 6800 of his subjects at Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium.They had earlier booed foreign diplomats arriving at the imbizo.In Johannesburg, President Jacob Zuma acknowledged the ANC had not done enough to heal a culture of violence caused by apartheid.And still the violence continued yesterday, with an EFF supporter in Alexandra, Johannesburg, shot in the knee when unknown gunmen who had taken up positions in a hostel opened fire on a group marching against xenophobia.Zwelithini maintained he was not responsible for the xenophobic attacks, which have claimed the lives of seven people in Durban and Johannesburg and displaced thousands. Busloads of foreigners have quit South Africa and there had been a backlash from countries elsewhere in Africa, including threats to South African workers and South African-owned businesses.Zwelithini discounted rumours that "Zulus are mobilising and getting into trains to Joburg to fight. Those ['saying this] are people who want to pit us against each other." He urged the SA Human Rights Commission to probe his controversial comments last month "without interference".Commission spokesman Isaac Mangena confirmed that its chairman was in KwaZulu-Natal at the king's invitation to probe complaints about his address.Zuma told a meeting of politicians, businessmen, sports personalities and entertainers at Luthuli House that the ANC had not provided proper leadership." I think a few things were not done. First, South Africa had a system called apartheid that was very violent and for it to be defeated we as people had to be violent and that culture was not addressed after 1994."We didn't do that. We took things for granted and thought freedom would suddenly make us think we are alike."Zuma extended the blame to parliament, where, he said, leaders took every chance to throw insults that had manifested on the streets with knives replacing words.People at the imbizo in Durban said their resentment of foreigners was fuelled by jealousy.Mthokozisi Mpungose, who described himself as the leader of "regiments in the KwaMashu hostel", said: "We support [the king's] call that the government should seriously look at poverty and employment, which are the root causes of this crisis. We tend to look at foreigners doing their business and become jealous."Johannesburg and Gauteng leaders moved to allay the fears of foreigners and assist them in reintegrating into society.Johannesburg mayor Parks Tau told reporters the city's response to the xenophobic attacks had to address immediate and long-term problems. One of these was how foreigners traded in communities."We need to ensure that everybody complies with the same rules. We will be going out to say, 'This is how you register your company and these are the by-laws', so that everybody knows the rules and complies with the rules when it comes to the trading environment," said Tau.Gauteng MEC for community safety Sizakele Nkosi Malobane urged foreigners to return to their homes and businesses.Nkosi Malobane said her department was speaking to hostel and community leaders to put a stop to the attacks.She said most of the foreigners who had taken shelter at camps had not been attacked but were driven by fear.Earlier, Zuma reportedly raised the publication in the Sunday Times of the cold-blooded stabbing to death of a Mozambican man in Alexandra, saying it made South Africa "look bad".Political analyst Mzoxolo Mpolase, said: "The reality of the situation is that what happened would have happened regardless of whether it was photographed or not."It is South Africans making themselves look bad, not the photograph." Additional reporting by Penwell Dlamini, Kingdom Mabuza and Graeme Hosken..

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