South Africa begs Mozambique over xenophobic attacks

Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa, has apologised to Mozambique for the recent xenophobic attacks against foreigners, which resulted in the death of three Mozambicans.

Zuma, who was speaking on Thursday in Maputo during a two-day state visit to Mozambique, said such acts had no justification, taking into consideration the ties of brotherhood between people from the two nations.

He said that from all indications, the attacks were committed by a minority group that did not represent the whole South Africa.

“It is important for us to apologise for the acts of a small minority of South Africans, which does not represent the desire of South African people,” he said.

“We have good relations with a number of countries, including Mozambique, and we never had problems.”

Responding, Oldemiro Baloi, the Mozambican minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, said that during the talks between Zuma and his Mozambican counterpart, Filipe Nyusi, both countries agreed to reinforce and improve the implementation of agreements so far signed.

He said both leaders went through the latest events that mark both nations, among them, xenophobia and deportation, and they concluded that they must improve communication so that such acts are reduced to the lowest incidents possible.

Baloi said the two countries also talked about the political and economic situation between the two nations, as well as their presence in the Southern Africa Development Community.

He said his president had accepted an invitation for a state visit to South Africa, requested by Zuma during the talks. He said that during his stay, Zuma would also address the Mozambican parliament, the assembly of the republic.

Zuma lived in Mozambique during South Africa’s apartheid struggle, until its independence in 1994, as Mozambique became one of the bases of the African National Congress (ANC) in the southern African region.