Cape Town – There was no need to call in the army to quell the spate of xenophobic attacks which have hit KwaZulu Natal, Police Minister Nathi Nhleko said on Tuesday.
“The situation necessarily has not come to that point to necessitate army deployment. Government agencies have handled that situation relatively quite well,” said Nhleko while addressing journalists with his colleagues from the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) cluster.
Nhleko said government, together with NGOs, were assisting foreign nationals by setting up centres to accommodate them.
Currently, 276 displaced foreigners were being accommodated in Isipingo, 196 in Greenwood Park while the number of foreigners seeking help in Chatsworth fluctuated between 800 and one thousand.
Nhleko said the violence was not necessarily xenophobic but Afrophobic as mostly African foreigners were being targeted.
Nhleko and his fellow ministers from the JCPS cluster said government was taking a no-nonsense approach in dealing with perpertrators of anti-foreigner violence.
“We want to assert government’s position that any lawlessness will not be tolerated,” said Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakulu.
“Government will not hesitate to enforce the laws of the country and we will continue to act speedily and decisively on any criminal activity in South Africa under any guise.”
Mapisa-Nqakula said at least 48 people had been arrested since the weekend in connection with attacks on foreign nationals.
Additional law enforcement officers were being mobilised from around the country and deployed to affected areas to prevent further attacks.
ANA