South Africa: Former president Thabo Mbeki says it’s wrong to blame foreigners for ‘bulk of crime’ in SA

By Hans Ngala

Former South African president, Thabo Mbeki has cautioned South Africans to stop blaming foreigners for committing the bulk of crime in South Africa. He was addressing a gathering at the University of South Africa (UNISA) on Wednesday when he made his remarks.

“The bulk of crime in this country is caused is committed by South Africans. There are foreigners who commit crimes. You should arrest them and charge them this is what we should do and avoid labelling other people” the former president told his audience.

He had earlier said: “We need to walk away from the false notion that the bulk of crime in this country is caused by foreigners. It is not correct.”

Mbeki has always been a firm pan-Africanist and is hated by some in South Africa for always coming to the defense of foreigners in South Africa. Since 2008, he has always stated categorically that attacks towards foreigners are not xenophpbic, but symptomatic of general crime in the country.

Earlier this month, South Africa’s Minister of Police, Bheki Cele also rebutted claims that most people in South African prisons are foreigners. Mr. Cele revealed that of the 544,000 people in South African prisons, only 18,000 are foreigners.

Another pro-foreigner voice in South Africa is that of Julius Malema and his Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party.

South Africa’s economy is struggling and unemployment is high, leading many frustrated South Africans to attack foreigners, believing they are taking away jobs from them.

South Africa is home to a large Cameroonian diaspora mainly resident in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria.