International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor has sought input from civil society organisations representing foreign nationals in the country.
On Friday the minister met with various bodies including the African Diaspora Forum to get first-hand information aimed at devising interventions to ensure that the anti-African violence rocked Gauteng earlier in the month does happen again.
Pandor says a sustainable solution requires input from all stakeholders, “There should be a way of finding a model of collaboration that will work for all of us but we cannot do that in isolation. As I said to the ambassadors when I closed my remarks two weeks ago. I want us to build bridges but I don’t want it to be an engineering feet. I want us to build bridges and walk across them together.”
The minister of International Relations and Cooperation did not mince her words by saying that the condition of the African continent needs to change and African leaders need to commit to the development of their people.
Earlier, Pandor uttered that government needs to urgently address the insecurities of both South Africans and migrants. She added that it’s important to establish what is causing a feeling of alienation in the two groups.
“Community members in some areas of South Africa are feeling alienated and displaced, they feel they lack opportunity, they feel they lack jobs. Those who come to live in our country feel that they live in fear; they live in an atmosphere of rejection. All of this must be addressed by us. While the attacks are aimed largely at African migrants in our country, it’s also been true that many South African citizens are also among the victims,” says Pandor.
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