Johannesburg – The City of Joburg mayor, Herman Mashaba “resolutely” stands by his remarks that everyone who comes to the city must do so legally, and if they do not, they are, by default, criminals as they have broken the laws.
This follows a letter sent to President Jacob Zuma from the African Diaspora Forum (ADF) complaining about Mashaba’s remarks made in December during his 100-day speech.
Chairman of the ADF Marc Gbaffou said the mayor’s utterance have had the effect of “inciting xenophobic violence and mayhem against the migrant community”.
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“Already since his made his speech, migrants are reporting that they are facing increased harassment from South African citizens thus inciting fear and creating an uneasy atmosphere in their various communities.”
Gbaffou said social media had become inundated with inflammatory and hateful messages against illegal foreigners, including calls for violent attacks against them.
“The heat of xenophobia is intensifying and violent outbreaks may soon be seen in our communities as a result of Mayor Mashaba's irresponsible utterances and his failure, as a political leader, to defend the democratic and constitutional rights of migrants to be protected from violent attacks and vandalism of their property.”
His organisation, he said, is calling on leadership, including agencies of the state, to make public statements in which they reject xenophobia and to promote solidarity among different communities with special reference to foreign nationals.
“They should unequivocally and positively reinforce that South Africa is today, and will always be, an inclusive, democratic multicultural society,” he said.
In response, Mashaba accuses the organisation of straying away from the aim of the organisation into a political agenda.
“I remain resolute, just as I did then, that I would like every person in the world to visit our city, as tourists, to work in our city, to invest in our city, to share their skills and ingenuity with us and help us to advance our city. “My one and only qualification to this, is that they must enter our country legally and, once in Joburg, they must abide by our laws. I am an unapologetic believer in the rule of law as a prerequisite for the kind of city that we would like Joburg to be. Anybody who believes otherwise, I will not be able to come to terms with.”
Mashaba reiterated that people who live in or visit the city illegally are, in fact criminals.
“You cannot refute the fact that someone who has broken a law in our country by virtue of passing through our borders illegally, is not a criminal. To refute this is to deny the existence of immigrations laws in South Africa or to decide the the rule of law must be selectively applied to exclude these laws,” he said.
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