Act against xenophobia: Passop

2011-06-20 12:37

Johannesburg - The ANC should act "decisively" against party members linked to xenophobic violence, rights group People Suffering Against Oppression and Poverty (Passop) said on Monday.

Newly-elected councillors should also be educated on the ANC's position on violence, co-ordinator Braam Hanekom said in a statement.

The party should investigate violence against foreigners and expel councillors or members found to be involved.

He was reacting to the arrest of an ANC councillor in Seshego on Friday, after a Zimbabwean man was stoned to death.

Limpopo ANC spokesperson David Masondo said in an earlier statement that the party "upholds the principle of innocent until proven guilty".

"We reiterate that no one is above the law and any person, including our ANC members found violating the law should be punished accordingly."

Masondo called on people not to take the law into their own hands.

The Zimbabwean man was stoned to death at Section 75, Seshego, last Monday.

Locals alleged he had killed two South Africans during a house robbery. Limpopo police spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi last week said groups of local residents had been intimidating foreigners.

The councillor, a 29-year-old woman, was arrested along with five other people early on Friday morning.

The six were expected to appear in the Seshego Magistrate's Court on Monday on charges of murder, public violence and arson.

- SAPA