Maputo - President Jacob Zuma has apologised to Mozambique for the xenophobic attacks earlier this year in which three Mozambicans died.
Zuma, who is on a two-day state visit to Mozambique this week, offered the apology during a meeting with his Mozambican counterpart Filipe Nyusi.
“It is important that I apologise, in the name of a small minority of South Africans who carried out these atrocious acts,” said Zuma.
He insisted that Mozambique and South Africa remained “brothers” and pledged that the South African authorities were working hard so that acts of xenophobic violence “are never again repeated”.
At the press conference following the meeting, when International Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane was asked how often South Africa would have to apologise for repeated acts of xenophobia, she replied: “What we must do is look at how determined we are to solve this problem.”
Asked about “Operation Fiela”, under which many hundreds of illegal immigrants are being deported from South Africa, Nkoana-Mashabane said South Africa was only targeting criminals, and this was not an attack “against those foreigners who are contributing to the development of our economy”.
She said that during the meeting with Nyusi, Zuma promised there would be no forced deportation of Mozambicans or of other citizens.
Yet this is precisely what happened last Friday, when 420 Mozambicans who had been living illegally in South Africa were repatriated.
They were among 947 Mozambicans detained in the South African police sweep in a move that, according to Mozambican Foreign Minister Oldemiro Baloi, took the Mozambican authorities by surprise.
At the state banquet offered in Zuma’s honour, Nyusi urged Zuma to ensure that those responsible for the wave of xenophobic violence against foreigners living in South Africa in April were brought to justice. He also wanted to see a serious effort made to eliminate the causes of xenophobia.
“We praise the measures taken by your government, but the Mozambican people are awaiting, with great interest, the investigations that the South African authorities are undertaking,” said Nyusi.
Despite the violent attacks, Nyusi said he was pleased at the current stage of co-operation between Mozambique and South Africa.
South Africa is Mozambique’s largest trading partner and occupies third position in the list of countries whose companies are investing in Mozambique.
“Mozambique has arable land and an abundance of water and energy resources. Our potential in hydropower, coal, natural gas and renewable energies allows us to guarantee the energy security of both countries,” Nyusi said.
Independent Foreign Service