To beat xenophobia we need more SAPS members and better crime intelligence
10 September 2019
The scenes playing out across Gauteng, where foreigners are being attacked and their goods looted, do not belong in our democracy. That is not who we are, and that is not how we treat our brothers and sisters.
Ours is a country that still bears scars from a divided and brutal past, but we emerged from this past to become a country of hope and unity. We cannot go backwards. The violence and anarchy we are now seeing in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni cannot be tolerated and it cannot go without consequences.
There can never be any justification for this kind of behaviour. Those attempting to do so by pointing to their own circumstances – poverty, unemployment and lack of opportunities – are fooling themselves. They are seeking to create scapegoats for problems that have different solutions. This must end.
The only way we will restore peace and calm to these areas is through far more efficient policing. We need to be able to arrest those who are destroying property and looting shops, and we need to be able to identify and apprehend those who are orchestrating the violence.