Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba has said he has “nothing to apologise for” following a spate of xenophobic attacks in the city.
However, Johannesburg Mayor, Mashaba was being interviewed by CNBC Africa and asked whether he too would apologise, as President Cyril Ramaphosa had done.
Shockingly, Mashaba said he has no reason to apologise even though his President has.
“There’s nothing for me to apologise. We have the responsibility to get the president to get Home Affairs about the documentation [of foreign nationals]. What do you expect me to apologise for?”
Mashaba said in the interview, which was broadcast on Tuesday evening. Meanwhile, President Ramaphosa apologised for the latest xenophobic attacks at the memorial service for former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe in Harare on Saturday.
“I stand before you as a fellow African to express my regret and apologise for what has happened in our country. What has happened in South Africa goes against the principles of the unity of the African people that presidents Mugabe, Mandela, Tambo and the great leaders of our continent stood for,”
Ramaphosa said. On Monday, Energy Minister Jeff Radebe, on behalf of Ramaphosa, apologised for the attacks to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in the capital Abuja.
