South African president Ramaphosa apologizes for xenophobia

The president of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa has apologized for the recent xenophobic attacks in his country.

He was addressing mourners during the funeral service of former Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe on Saturday afternoon.

This followed heckling by some mourners as the president was invited to make an address.

Ramaphosa condemned the recent attacks noting that South Africans are not xenophobic, expressing his government’s commitment to promote social cohesion

This was after crowds booed and jeered at him – an apparent reaction to the xenophobic violence across South Africa in the last month.

“In the past two weeks, we as South Africans have been going through a challenging period. We have had acts of violence erupting in some parts of our country. This has led, as I can hear you’re responding to, to the deaths and injuries of a number of people”, said Mr Ramaphosa. He however insisted that  South Africans are not xenophobic.

Several other current and former African leaders who attended the funeral service have hailed Mr Mugabe as a pan-Africanist who had dedicated his life to the people of Zimbabwe.

One of them was Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta who besides praising the late Mugabe, insisted that Africa’s problems demanded African solutions.

Written by Reporter