South Africa’s International Relations Minister, Naledi Pandor, said that her government will not condone violence against foreign nationals.

Pandor made the remarks while speaking on SABC after a 43-year-old Zimbabwean man, Mhbodazwe Elvis Nyathi was stoned and set alight in a mob attack in Diepsloot north-west of Johannesburg overnight.

The attack followed a day of protests as residents of Diepsloot embarked on a protest, barricading roads with burning tyres, over escalating crime.

At least eight people were shot dead and 14 others wounded in Diepsloot over the past few days resulting in the protests. Said Pandor:

We have to document everybody who is in the country. I must say I admire the people of South Africa because we had never separated communities of Africans from elsewhere living in a refugee camp.

We have always allowed those who come into our country to live within the community.

So, I do think as a government you have to listen to the people but you can not tolerate violence against any person.

Meanwhile, community leaders in Diepsloot have sent their condolences to the family of Nyathi.

Community leader Sicelo Shezi described the murder as pure vigilantism and urged the community not to take the law into their own hands.

A man who was killed in Diepsloot has been identified as Elvis Nyathi. No arrests have been made in connection with his killing. Ayanda Nyathi speaks to the deceased man’s partner.

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SABC/ Newzroom Afrika