Inflammatory public statements by Zulu monarch King Goodwill Zwelithini and President Jacob Zuma fuelled the “prevailing atmosphere of fear throughout communities” during last year’s wave of xenophobic violence in KwaZulu-Natal.
While the Special Reference Group on Migration and Community Integration in KwaZulu-Natal found no direct link between the comments Zwelithini made at an event in March last year – to the effect that all foreigners should pack their bags and leave South Africa – and the xenophobic attacks, it identified statements from leading public figures as contributing to increasing tensions between communities and foreign nationals.
“They include statements at the highest level including President Jacob Zuma, the king and political leaders. We condemn this kind of inflammatory speech because of the likelihood that it could instigate violence,” the group’s chair and former United Nations high commissioner for human rights Judge Navi Pillay said yesterday.
Pillay said there was no evidence to link Zwelithini’s comments, made in Pongola, to the violence that erupted in Isipingo, south of Durban, on March 30 last year and spread across the country.
She said Zwelithini declined to be interviewed by the group. “We wished to have an audience with King Zwelithini and we made a number of approaches.
“We finally had a written response from the king’s secretary who said that because the South African Human Rights Commission was investigating the issue of the king’s speech, he felt that he didn’t need to be interviewed.”
Pillay yesterday released the Special Reference Group on Migration and Community Integration in KwaZulu-Natal’s findings and recommendations following an investigation into the wave of attacks against foreigners that erupted in 2015.
At least seven people were killed, hundreds injured and thousands displaced in the spate of violence that spread from KZN to Johannesburg.
The investigation found that the immediate cause of the violent attacks was the result of “deliberate efforts to drive away competition by foreign national-owned businesses”.
“These incidents created a highly combustible environment within the context of prevalent poverty, a difficult international economic climate, increasing socio-economic inequality and high levels of unemployment.”
She said there was a strong possibility for recurrence of violence as the underlying tensions were unresolved. “What we are saying is that the tensions are there,” she added.
Leaders’ remarks increased tensions
While the Special Reference Group on Migration and Community Integration in KwaZulu-Natal found no direct link between the comments Zwelithini made at an event in March last year – to the effect that all foreigners should pack their bags and leave South Africa – and the xenophobic attacks, it identified statements from leading public figures as contributing to increasing tensions between communities and foreign nationals.
“They include statements at the highest level including President Jacob Zuma, the king and political leaders. We condemn this kind of inflammatory speech because of the likelihood that it could instigate violence,” the group’s chair and former United Nations high commissioner for human rights Judge Navi Pillay said yesterday.
Pillay said there was no evidence to link Zwelithini’s comments, made in Pongola, to the violence that erupted in Isipingo, south of Durban, on March 30 last year and spread across the country.
She said Zwelithini declined to be interviewed by the group. “We wished to have an audience with King Zwelithini and we made a number of approaches.
“We finally had a written response from the king’s secretary who said that because the South African Human Rights Commission was investigating the issue of the king’s speech, he felt that he didn’t need to be interviewed.”
Pillay yesterday released the Special Reference Group on Migration and Community Integration in KwaZulu-Natal’s findings and recommendations following an investigation into the wave of attacks against foreigners that erupted in 2015.
At least seven people were killed, hundreds injured and thousands displaced in the spate of violence that spread from KZN to Johannesburg.
The investigation found that the immediate cause of the violent attacks was the result of “deliberate efforts to drive away competition by foreign national-owned businesses”.
“These incidents created a highly combustible environment within the context of prevalent poverty, a difficult international economic climate, increasing socio-economic inequality and high levels of unemployment.”
She said there was a strong possibility for recurrence of violence as the underlying tensions were unresolved. “What we are saying is that the tensions are there,” she added.
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