South Africa on Monday said it will no longer allow its citizens to attack foreigners or destroy their businesses in the country under any guise.
The Premier of Guateng Province, David Makhura who said this at the opening ceremony of the 2019 Africa Investment Forum [AIF] in Johannesburg added that the authorities in the country was already tackling the xenophobic issue and would soon put an end to it.
Mr Makhura said: ‘’The recent violence in our country comes to mind. Africans are one people and all citizens of the world are one humanity. We as a country have already started tackling this issue of violence by few of us and we have resolved to once and for all address it.
‘’South Africa is open for business. This is the time for us Africa to develop and not the time to attack one another.’’
Meanwhile, Mr Makhura early in his address, urged African leaders to create the right environment for business to thrive on the continent.
He also advised them to pay more attention to youths and women empowerment as they formed the largest part of the continent’s population.
Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana and Paul Kigame of Rwanda as well as Prime Minister of Mozambique Agostiniho do Rosario attended the opening ceremony.
Other dignitaries at the event were the Chairman of Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Dr Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, top officials of 109 countries across the world.