South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has told officials and business leaders that he was committed to quelling attacks on foreigners that have threatened to cast a cloud over an economic forum aimed at boosting intra-African trade.
Police have arrested dozens of people and confirmed several deaths after riots in Johannesburg and the executive capital, Pretoria, in recent days.
It is unclear what ignited the latest round of violence, but analysts say contributing factors include high unemployment and frustration with limited economic opportunities.
The wave of unrest has kindled memories of previous deadly attacks on foreigners and strained diplomatic relations with Africa’s other economic powerhouse, Nigeria.
South African businesses MTN and Shoprite closed shops in Nigeria on Wednesday after their facilities in the country came under attack.
Other African countries from Ghana to Ethiopia – along with the regional bloc the African Union – have called on Ramaphosa to take decisive action.
Artists and citizens from across the continent have taken to social media to voice their anger, with some threatening retaliation.
“Taking action against people from other nations is not justified and should never be allowed in our beautiful country … We need to quell those incidents of unrest,” Ramaphosa told those attending an event on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Africa three-day summit,
which started on Wednesday.
“South Africa must be a country where everyone feels safe, including women and foreign nationals,” Ramaphosa said, also condemning recent incidents where women have been killed.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika pulled out of the conference at the last minute, prompting speculation in South African media that the no-shows were linked to the attacks on foreigners.
But WEF spokesman Oliver Cann said Kagame and Mutharika had informed conference organisers that they could not attend by Saturday, before the attacks had started.
Zimbabwe Foreign Affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo, who was part of a large Zimbabwean government contingent including President Emmerson Mnangagwa, said the recent attacks were “unfortunate”.
“It is unfortunate that African brothers go against each other neck on neck in that kind of scenario, in an environment where we are looking forward to regional integration and cooperation and where Africa as a whole has embraced the continental free trade agreement as a bedrock of
integration,” Moyo told Reuters news agency.
“We just implore our brothers in the region to note that peaceful coexistence is one of the key fundamentals,” he said.
