South African Minister of Defence, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has said the government of the country can not prevent the xenophobic attack on nationals of other countries because it is planned by criminals.
The country has become battlefield as South Africans have attacked businesses of Nigerians and nationals of other African countries.
The minister of defence in an interview with eNCA, a local television channel, she said South Africa is an angry nation.
She said: “The reality is that we have an angry nation. What’s happening can never be prevented by any government.
“People are saying some heads of state decided not to attend the World Economic Forum; we should be talking about why this whole thing is coinciding with that.” Mapisa-Nqakula said it wasn’t the first time attack against foreign national have occoured and that some criminal elements were behind it.
She said: “People are saying it is xenophobic attacks but it is not the first time, we have had them in the past. “We have criminals that have read the situation and are aware that we have challenges right now.
“We have talked on the issues of high rate of unemployment, of some foreign nationals who are not conducting themselves in an appropriate manner as we would expect, those breaking the bylaws of the country, and you now have criminal elements who have decided that we are going to use all of those things to find reasons to attack people.
Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula is denying claims the security cluster is failing to thwart tensions between locals and foreign nationals. #TheJaneDuttonHour Courtesy #DStv403 pic.twitter.com/cyv4V3fAfa
— eNCA (@eNCA) September 9, 2019
“It is unfortunate and should not happen. The reality is that we need to have a serious dialogue about what is happening and we must take responsibility. The reality is that we are an angry nation and we must talk about it.”
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