SAHRC severely criticises deputy police minister for xenophobic comments
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has condemned comments made by Deputy Police Minister Bongani Mkongi, about the problem of hijacked buildings in Johannesburg. Mkongi was quoted last week as having said: "How can a city in SA be 80% foreign national? That is dangerous. South Africans have surrendered their own city to the foreigners." These utterances have been described as xenophobic by the human rights commission. "The SAHRC is of the view that statements such as this have the potential of fuelling anti-immigrant sentiments and is, in fact, xenophobic. SA is already grappling with the scourge of violent xenophobic attacks‚ often directed against fellow African non-nationals. "As a figure of authority in the Department of Police — and by extension across society — the deputy minister is expected to exercise a great deal of circumspection in his public utterances. Not only are the statements factually incorrect‚ (in that he claims‚ without evidence to the effect‚ th...
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