VIOLENCE IN SOUTH AFRICA

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Tuesday condemned the wave of violence against foreigners in neighbouring South Africa.Speaking from the town of Alto Molocue, in the central province of Zambezia, where he was campaigning for the general elections scheduled for 15 October, Nyusi said his government had followed “with great sadness and concern” the resumption of violence in South Africa against foreign citizens, mostly from other African countries, including Mozambique.He added that the government became aware on 5 September of an attack in a Johannesburg neighbourhood in which about 500 Mozambicans lost their homes, and all their possessions, and are now in need of shelter and food.

The government is following the situation closely, Nyusi said, and has been taking measures to protect Mozambican citizens, including their voluntary repatriation. An accommodation centre has been set up at Macuanza in Moamba district, as a provisional shelter for repatriated Mozambicans, before they are sent on to their zones of origin (mostly in the southern provinces of Gaza, Inhambane and Maputo).

Nyusi said his government is in permanent contact with the South African authorities in order to understand the situation and ensure protection of Mozambican citizens threatened with violence.The government has instructed the Mozambican High Commission in Pretoria, and the network of consular missions in South Africa, to make an exhaustive survey of the situation and provide the necessary support.Thanks to the contacts made by the government, Nyusi added, the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) has offered to assist in the repatriation of Mozambicans.Acts of xenophobic violence, the President said, are contrary to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to the African Charter of Human and People’s Rights. He urged Mozambicans living in South Africa to obey South African laws and refrain from any act of retaliatory violence.