Cape Town – Parliament on Thursday added its voice to the condemnation of violence directed at foreign nationals and said there was no place in South Africa for racism and other forms of intolerance.
“We affirm our commitment not only to African solidarity but also to our common humanity,” Parliament said in a statement. “The dignity and respect we should give to all people was shown to us many times over by particularly the people of Africa during our own struggle for non-racialism, non-sexism, freedom and human rights.
“By falling prey to displaying the evils of xenophobia, racism, sexism and other intolerant behaviour we damage our own dignity as human beings.”
It said South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994 and the adoption of the Constitution in 1996 was testimony to “our preference for coming together, sharing our problems and trying to solve them through discussion and negotiation”.
It said it would be implementing a programme against xenophobia and other forms of discrimination which would build on the debate of 16 April in the National Assembly (NA) where political parties spoke out against the violence which has broken out in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
ANA