Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba on xenophobia: 'There is nothing to apologise for'

Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba said it was not necessary for SA to apologise to other African countries for the recent xenophobic attacks.

This after President Cyril Ramaphosa issued an apology at former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe's funeral in Harare on Saturday.

He also tasked a team of special envoys to visit Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to deliver a message from him regarding the violence that erupted in some parts of SA.

In an interview on CNBC Africa, Mashaba said there was nothing to apologise for.

He said he did not regard the xenophobic attacks as an accident, adding that they were “bound to happen”.

“There is nothing to apologise for. We have a responsibility to get the president and home affairs to do something. What would anyone want me to apologise for?

“The country owes an official apology to the million unemployed South Africans who are today without jobs as a result of billions of counterfeit goods being brought illegally into the country, killing local manufacturing.”

TimesLIVE reported that despite retaliation in African countries, most of those killed during the violence had been South Africans. 

Ten deaths were reported, but police minister Bheki Cele said this number could change once investigations were concluded.