A Zimbabwean man was ejected from a meeting between South African government officials and community members of Diepsloot, Johannesburg on Friday.
Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and Minister of Police Bheki Cele were in Diepsloot, a slum area in Johannesburg, to find a lasting solution to the challenges that resulted in violent protests this week and the killing of Zimbabwean national Elvis Nyathi.
The man was asked to leave the meeting soon after he introduced himself as a Zimbabwean communist party representative.
The Zimbabwean man was reportedly led out of the meeting by the police and followed by Motsoaledi, who explained to him why he could not be part of the meeting.
The man told Motsoaledi outside that he was from Fourways and that he was invited to the gathering. Motsoaledi said:
This is a community meeting of people who stay here only… People are angry. We ask you to leave because this is a meeting of the community.
Now we are unable to continue with the meeting because they are very angry.
I’m just asking you to leave very peacefully. Tell whoever has invited you that they invited you to the wrong meeting.
Residents of Diesploot blame foreign nationals for the high levels of armed robberies and murders in the area.
Meanwhile, addressing journalists in Diepsloot on Friday, Thabang Molefe a convener of ANCYL structures demanded that all Zimbabweans should leave the area once and for all. He said:
I represent young people in this community. It is the young people that are asking why are you allowing these Zimbabweans to kill us.
We are not joking here. We have invited the minister here. Zimbabweans must leave once and for all.
We are saying that South Africans must start walking around with ID documents.
We are calling for operation stop, search and arrest. Police must randomly search [and ask] who are you, where are you from, where is your documentation…That is how we want it in Diepsloot.
