Johannesburg - As xenophobic violence gripped the country, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has come out condemning violence and characterising it as anti-poor and anti-migrant workers.
“Many members of the NUM come from neighbouring countries such as Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Swaziland, and others,” said national spokesman Livhuwani Mamburu.
“We, therefore, cannot allow the situation to be polarised further.”
“It is totally unacceptable and inexcusable that immigrants could be attacked for being immigrants in a country which purports to support human rights.”
Cosatu has recently come under attack for inflammatory comments and a Gauteng provincial leader of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union was murdered in what appeared to be a hit on Monday this week.
“The working class and the poor should be united against the common enemy which is oppressive regimes and capitalist exploitation,” Mamburu said.
“We cannot wage war against each other. Workers of the world should unite and therefore we must discourage this malady.
“The NUM calls on the state to urgently intervene in the deteriorating and escalating levels of xenophobic attacks in the country.
“It is very worrying that these xenophobic attacks are characterised by high levels of criminality and hooliganism and, NUM therefore, calls for the state to take strong action against these criminals and hooligans.”
Labour Bureau