Xenophobia fighters blame violence on Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba
The newly formed Coalition of Civics Against Xenophobia blames recent violence against foreigners on Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba. Mashaba came under fire for referring to foreigners as criminals this year. The coalition‚ made up of South Africans and representatives of foreign communities‚ under the auspices of the Lawyers for Human Rights‚ briefed journalists in Pretoria on Tuesday. The coalition’s formation comes days ahead of a planned march by "concerned residents" of Mamelodi‚ who claim foreigners living in the area are taking local jobs. The head of the refugee and migrants rights programme at Lawyers for Human Rights‚ Sharon Ekambaram‚ said Mashaba must take responsibility for his utterances. "It is really irresponsible of politicians to incite this kind of violence and we lay the responsibility for this violence at his door‚" she said. Ekambaram said it was not true that immigrants were taking locals’ jobs and business opportunities. Research showed that less than 18% ...
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