Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma has criticised the media for “exaggerating” events and adopting a negative stance in reporting on the xenophobic attacks which recently rocked the country.
Zuma was speaking at the Africa Day celebrations at the University of Pretoria’s Mamelodi West Campus where he urged the promotion of an African identity in every aspect of life.
“South Africans are not xenophobic. There are elements of criminality where xenophobia is used as an excuse to rob people,” Zuma said.
“It’s important that we do not live in the mindset of the media because there were nationals from other countries who fought in our Struggle and even went to Robben Island.
“If we don’t understand our connectivity as Africans then we have a problem,” Zuma said to a cheering crowd.
He also called for unity among Africans and said Africa Day bears a special meaning to South Africans and the role they should play within the continent.
“Starting from today, every community and institutions must practice the African Union anthem and must be able to sing it at all gatherings and celebrations,” he said.
“Africa Day is a celebration of African progress. We have a lot to celebrate and we have a lot to look forward to. It is also a day to reflect on the challenges that still remain. Africa Day is a celebration of African unity,” Zuma said.
He said this would be an integral component of reclaiming the identity of Africans and moving away from the oppression created by the apartheid regime.
“This is part of reclaiming our identity. We can’t be suppressed by the racist notion of the apartheid regime,” he said.
“Hundreds of people bused in from various parts of Tshwane were in attendance.
Among those present were the Minister of International Affairs Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, AU chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, City of Tshwane mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa and Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa.
Dlamini Zuma, who took the podium before Zuma, said South Africans needed to be aware that 60 percent of tourists travelling to South Africa are Africans who contribute to the country’s economy.
“For the past two years I have been living in Ethiopia and I have never been made to feel as though I was a foreigner or I was a migrant.
“What happened here was painful to me. We must stop the aberration of beating up others because they are from other parts of the continent,” said Dlamini-Zuma.
She said the country’s liberation Struggle and freedom are reflected by the freedom celebrated by the rest of the continent.
“Our fortunes in Africa are intertwined.
“The past generation freed us, the next generation must be responsible for integration,” she said.
Before the festivities began, people were entertained outside the hall by a group called Udumo Entertainment from Mamelodi.
The Pretoria News team spoke to some of the group members who are aged between 9 and 18 about what Africa Day means to them.
Dikeledi Mokone said the day should not only be celebrated once a year, but should be entrenched in the identity of Africans.
“We need to live as Africans and celebrate who we are every day in the way we carry ourselves and in the way we treat our fellow African brothers and sisters,” Mokone said.
The Sonke Gender Justice Project urged the South African Government to take urgent steps to repair relations with other countries in Africa, and to embrace African unity amid xenophobic violence and government crackdowns targeting African and Asian migrants in South Africa.
“We acknowledge and support minister Mthethwa’s response to xenophobia, both in terms of the launching of Africa Month as a way to promote African unity, and in terms of his comments challenging discrimination and calling for African unity and co-operation.
“However, we draw attention to the mixed messages the government has been sending about its commitment to African unity.
“It condemns xenophobia in one breath, and then blatantly stigmatises foreign nationals by introducing raids (Operation Fiela) that target them, deploying the army, and opening deportation camps.
“This serves only to deepen wrong and dangerous ideas that foreign nationals are criminals and deserve to be sent back to their countries,” it said in a statement.
Pretoria News