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Johannesburg – The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is on Tuesday expected to brief the media on the outcomes of the mediation session between the African Diaspora Forum and Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba over claims of xenophobia.
In a statement, the SAHRC said the briefing would be held at its Braampark offices at 10:00.
In February 2017, the commission received a complaint from the forum alleging that Mashaba had made comments that were xenophobic and that could possibly fuel xenophobic attacks.
The commission said the African Diaspora Forum alleged that Mashaba stated that "foreign nationals are responsible for criminality in the City of Johannesburg, that undocumented foreign nationals compound criminality and make it difficult for law enforcement to perform their duties and that foreign nationals were holding the country to ransom".
The commission said it engaged with both the forum and Mashaba and determined that the matter would be best resolved through a process of mediation.
Both parties were given a platform to recount their version of events and upon the conclusion of the mediatory discussion various terms of settlement were reached.
These terms led to a settlement agreement to be signed by the parties.
The commission said its chairperson, Advocate Bongani Majola, its Gauteng provincial manager, Buang Jones, Mashaba and African Diaspora Forum chairperson Marc Gbaffou were all expected to brief the media.
