ANC Statement for Africa Day: Xenophobia is a Crime

[XXPANTHAXX]

Africa Day

Xenophobia is a crime

May 25th is Africa Day. This marks the day that we, as Africans
celebrate the formation of the Organisation of African Unity, the
predecessor of the African Union. Today the African Union is an
instrument to unite all the people of Africa both politically and
economically.

On Sunday we will wake up in this country and celebrate the victories
our forebears have had over colonialism and Apartheid.

Many of us, including myself, will think of the kindness we received in
the poorest communities of Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia,
Tanzania, Nigeria and many other African States. We will recall that our
neighbours were collectively punished by the Apartheid regime for
harbouring the cadres of the ANC. We will remember that our children
were given spaces in overcrowded schools in remote rural villages, and
when we were injured and ill, the hospitals of many African countries
nursed us back to health.

Above all, when we wake up on Sunday morning we will remember that we
are Africans. We will celebrate the fact that the African continent
entrusted its Parliament, the Pan-African Parliament, to South Africa,
which is located in Midrand, not far from one of the scenes of the
horrendous attacks on South Africans and Foreign Nationals, which are
our brothers and sisters from this continent.

It is on Sunday that we will go to church and bow our heads in prayer
and many of us will pray for those who have been murdered, raped,
injured, possessions looted, homes destroyed and displaced. Many of us
will have taken from our own meagre resources to assist the people who
fled to police stations for safety. We cannot but conclude that an
injustice and crimes of a serious nature have been committed against
fellow Africans, here in South Africa. To date 42 souls have been lost.
Somewhere out there, somebody's mother, father, sister, brother,
husband, wife, son or daughter will no longer come out to greet them.

In Alexandra, Tembisa, Thokoza, Reiger Park, along Jules Street in
Johannesburg and in the city itself, homes and businesses have been
looted and burnt. A shameful pogrom, ill informed and angry with people
whom they perceive to be robbing them of their right to services. Is
this the truth? The same mob that accused people of being criminals
acted in the most obscene of criminal ways.

There is no room for this behaviour in our country ever; there is no
reason that compels us to behave in this atrocious manner. For this
reason we support the deployment of the SANDF to the effected areas, to
do no more than support the police in rooting out the criminals who
inspired these acts of barbarism.

We call on all ANC members to:

To spring into organised action.
Give support to the police
Form the street committees and take the streets back from criminals.
Give comfort and support to all who have been displaced and lost all
their wordly goods.
There is no doubt that overcrowding and poverty has a hand to play in
how people will react when they feel hard done by.

We have work to do comrades and friends.

We have to work hard to ensure that we root out corruption of the nature
that robs us of our humanity. Many people have taken occupation of more
than one RDP house and sell their houses instead of living in them. We
must put a stop to this practice and expose all who are corrupt.

Our policies are not at fault, the policies of the ANC seek to fight
poverty and to provide services to the people. We have to ensure that we
do the job that needs to be done to make delivery efficient and
effective.

We call on all public representatives and civil servants, to make our
country work for all who live in it.

Let us fight crime and corruption and work together to build this unique
nation.

On sunday 25 may, let us take the lead wherever we are to ensure that we
celebrate africa day as fellow africans and condemn xenophobia for the
henious crime that it is.

Let us support the police in their work they must do to rid our streets,
hostels and informal settlements of criminals

** Gwede Mantashe is Secretary General of the ANC.

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Xenophobia

Youth must rise against thuggery and hooliganism

South Africa is a thriving democracy brought about by the sweat and
blood of our forebears anchored on the liberation struggle that placed
human rights and human dignity at its pinnacle. Ours is a society that
is an integral part of the African continent and our destiny is
intrinsically linked to that of our fellow comrades across Africa. We
therefore have a responsibility to ensure that those who come to our
shores seeking refuge for whatever reason are treated humanely.

Those who believe they have an unfettered right to murder, loot and
destroy the property of others because they are not South African are
not deserving of our hard-won freedom, and have no place in our society.
We have noted with dismay that young people seem to be at the forefront
of these despicable attacks. We call on our youth to defend our hard-won
freedom and our democracy with everything they have. They must rise
against this thuggery and hoologanism and claim back their communities.
All ANC Youth League branches must assume leadership in this regard
working closely with ANC branches and other organs of civil society to
ensure that order prevails in our communities and that our people are
educated on the kind of society we espouse.

We further condemn with contempt those who participate in these criminal
activities using the name of the ANC and singing revolutionary songs
like "Umshini wami" while perpetrating crime. If any of our members are
found to be participating in these activities, we expect our structures
to take the harshest possible action against them.

While we acknowledge that service delivery challenges loom large in our
townships, our people must not be hoodwinked by criminal elements who
claim to have a solution to their plight. Killing others and burning
their homes does nothing for our society, and may cloud genuine concerns
they may have. We call on government to unleash every resource at its
disposal to nip this anarchy in the bud, including the deployment of the
military if the need arises.

We do not believe the government has done enough to arrest this anarchy
and we expect swift and decisive action from the law enforcement
agencies and other relevant organs of state. Those who quell this
anarchy must be apprehended and the criminal justice system must ensure
that they rot in jail. We call on our communities to work with the law
enforcement agencies to identify these thugs and ensure that they are
removed from our communities as they have no place in our society.

** Julius Malema is President of the ANC Youth League.