Former president Thabo Mbeki says South Africans must stop blaming foreigners for all crime.
Mbeki engaged with students and diplomats at the University
of SA (Unisa) in Pretoria this week.
SA must not buy into the notion that foreigners are
criminals. Suspected criminals should be arrested regardless of their
nationality.
“We need to walk away from the false notion that the bulk
of crime in this country is caused by foreigners. It is not correct. The bulk
of crime in this country is committed by South Africans.
“Yes, there are foreigners who commit crimes. You should
arrest them and charge them. This is what we should do and avoid labelling
other people.”
Foreigners made a huge contribution to the country's
freedom and people died in Mozambique for supporting SA.
“If South Africans feel there are too many Nigerians coming
in, then let's engage the Nigerian government to say let's manage this thing
together.
“We can't have a policy that has a major objective to chase
away foreign nationals. As the ANC, you can't lead a process like that. It's
not right.”
Earlier this month, police minister Bheki Cele said the
number of South Africans in prison showed that foreigners are not the problem.
More than 500,000 inmates in SA's 243 prisons are South
African and 18,000 are foreigners.
“Foreign nationals are not a problem. It is South Africans.
They are in prison in large numbers, which means they do things they are not
supposed to do.”
Prisons are overcrowded by 33.3% and the country needs to
go beyond policing.
“SA cannot be a prison,” he said.
“The call to arrest cannot be a permanent call. Something
else must be done. Other things and other ways must be found.” Times
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