Jaimie-faith Poonah
Government has called on communities to continue to
help quell violence and the attack on foreign-nationals.
Government has commended the police on the swift arrest
of three suspects who allegedly attacked and murdered Mozambican national
Emmanuel Sithole.
It is believed that Sithole was a street vendor and
the suspects took goods from his stall without paying which resulted in an
argument and he was stabbed.
Acting Cabinet Spokesperson Phumla Williams said “we
cannot allow this to happen in our name as a country and as government we also
wish to reiterate that we want communities to work with the police.
Williams said we discourage any groupings that seek
to take the law into their own hands, it is not going to solve the problem, and
we appeal to communities to work with government rather than to take the law
into their own hands”.
Meanwhile the South African National Editors Forum
said media organisations can contribute in curbing the attacks on
foreign-nationals by fostering tolerance among communities.
Sanef has condemned the attacks in the strongest
possible way and has called for peace.
Sanef Executive Director Mathatha Tsedu said “the
chairperson of Sanef, Mpumelelo Mkhabela urge all colleagues in the media to do
their best in ensuring that while they accurately and fairly report on the
attacks, as they have been doing, they also do whatever they can to assist
communities of different backgrounds to find each other.
Tsedu said “we are concerned that some of the
criminal elements behind these attacks of foreigners are targeting journalists
to prevent them from doing their work.
Society needs to build a culture of tolerance of
which media freedom will be a threat to those who seek to profit from violence
not reported in the media, Tsedu added.
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