Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba has insisted that he personally has no reason to apologise for the recent spate of xenophobic unrest.
Mashaba said this during an interview with eNCA on Monday morning.
President Cyril Ramaphosa apologised to other African countries during the funeral of the late Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe recently.
He also dispatched several special envoys, led by former minister Jeff Radebe, to convey South Africa’s apologies to several African heads of state.
Sorry, not sorry
However, Mashaba said he has no reason to say sorry.
Personally, as Herman Mashaba I see no reason why I have to apologise. In fact for me as Herman Mashaba, I believe that a lot of people who have an agenda to collapse this country should apologise to me.
Herman Mashaba
He maintained that many foreign nationals are engaged in criminality, including selling counterfeit goods and thereby causing unemployment in the country.
Mashaba emphasised that he won’t apologise for calling for the rule of law to be enforced against undocumented immigrants.
He spoke against the notion that illegal immigrants are only from African countries, saying there are many more from other countries such as Pakistan.
Nevertheless, he said Ramaphosa has a right to apologise if he felt it was necessary.
‘Bound to happen’
Mashaba made the same comments in an interview with CNBC Africa last week.
He suggested that the recent unrest was “something bound to happen” because South Africa is “operating without laws.”
What would you expect me to apologise for? It is unfortunate what has happened, but it has happened. For me, I don’t regard this as an accident – it was something bound to happen.
When you let a country operate without laws, this is ultimately what you get, and I don’t see the reason why one has to apologise.
Herman Mashaba