Durban - Various organisations and political parties have come out against a poster that has been making the rounds on social media that encourages South Africans to kick out all foreigners on Tuesday and for there to be a mass deportation of them.
The poster calls for foreign owned shops to be closed and for there to be a fight against the “abnormal influx of illegal foreigners in our country” and that hospitals and schools were overwhelmed and townships were overpopulated.
Responding to this, the C19 People’s Coalition condemned the poster and said they were “gravely concerned” about the safety of South Africans, migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers and undocumented people.
“These calls are a serious violation of the Constitution of the Republic. They contravene the values of Pan Africanism and human rights. They go against all the ideals of the anti-apartheid struggle and the founding principles of South Africa’s hard-won democracy. President Ramaphosa has repeatedly acknowledged the benefits of African integration and the negative impact of xenophobia, but the recent calls clearly indicate the existence of reactionary and fascist forces in South African society,” the coalition said.
Zimbabwe People's Party head of communications Paul Soti said that South Africa was a signatory to international conventions that ensured all foreign nationals within the borders of South Africa were safe.
“We further reiterate that any illegal foreign national shall be dealt with according to the international human rights laws and as such only the law enforcement agencies have a prerogative to deal with the latter,” Soti said.