ANC STATEMENT ON THE GEORGE FLOYD SAGA

The African National Congress calls for calm in the United States of America following widespread riots ignited by the death of George Floyd and other black Americans in the hands of police. We also call on the all Americans and their government to seek an amicable solution to the current racial impasse.

While we note the action taken by American authorities in charging one of the officers who was caught on camera kneeling on an unarmed Floyd, it is equally concerning that incidents of police brutality against African American citizens are on the increase. The cascade of recent cases ---- Ahmaud Arbery, jogging while black, Breonna Taylor, sleeping while black and Floyd, encountering police while black ---- has sharpened the focus on inescapable realities that American society places a perilously low value on black lives.

The Black Lives Matter movement, formed in 2013, highlighted the scourge of racial killings in the US by organising marches and demonstrations in response to the killings of black men and women by the police. It is deplorable that almost 70 years since racial segregation was abolished in America, people of colour are still routinely slaughtered for the colour of their skin. The ANC fought and defeated racial supremacy and will not be cowed to remain silent in the face of the lynching of black people wherever they manifest.

We urge our government, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, to engage with the American government through established diplomatic channels to diffuse racial tensions and build social cohesion among different races.

Statement issued by the ANC, 1 June 2020