South Africa condemns violence

The South African government has condemned the general political violence in parts of Zimbabwe and the latest attacks on businesses, the news Website IOL said on Wednesday. “South Africa does not, and will never condone the violence seen in the country, excuse the occupation of farms and serious harassment of people in rural and urban areas, and strongly condemns the latest spate of business invasions in Zimbabwe,” South Africa’s high commissioner to Harare was quoted as saying.

High Commissioner Jeremiah Ndou restated President Thabo Mbeki’s remarks on the situation in Zimbabwe, saying events there remained of great concern to his government. “It is clear that we must deal with the issue of Zimbabwe in order to deal with a negative perception related to what I am told is the ‘fear of contagion’,” a statement issued by the high commission was quoted as saying.

The report said Ndou expressed South Africa’s concern over the invasions of mainly white-owned businesses in Zimbabwe in recent weeks by war veterans, during which at least 16 South African firms came under attack. “The South African government is very concerned with events in the past few weeks where the business community has been threatened and harassed,” he said. South Africa’s Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was quoted as saying recently that her country had a responsibility to avoid a “complete collapse” of Zimbabwe.