Mayor of Johannesburg Herman Mashaba has revealed that he feels that apologizing to Nigeria over the xenophobic attacks was unnecessary.
Speaking on CNBC Africa’s Political Capital on Tuesday September 17, the South African Mayor said he doesn’t see the xenophobic attack as an “incident” as it was bound to happen.
“No, there is nothing for me to apologise about,” Mashaba said while reacting to the letter of apology from President Cyril Ramaphosa to the Nigerian government
“What do you expect me to really apologise for?
“We are not going to turn a blind eye on such evil crime happening under our watch,” Mashaba said, adding that “the country [South Africa] also owes an official apology to the 10.2 million unemployed South Africans who are today without jobs as a result of billions of counterfeit goods being brought illegally into the country, killing local manufacturing.”
It should however be noted that 12 people were killed in Johannesburg, the city under Mr. Mashaba’s watch. 10 people killed in the xenophobic attacks were South Africans, while the remaining two were foreign nationals.
