African ambassadors meet this morning to discuss the xenophobic violence that is spreading throughout South Africa.
The meeting called by the Dean of African envoys to South Africa also ambassador of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Amb. Ben M’Poko, is with officials from the Department of Home Affairs to chat a way forward on the matter.
The violent attacks on foreigners have rocked some major cities of South Africa, with atleast five people including a 14 year old confirmed dead and scores injured.
Yesterday Ambassador Julius Peter Moto, the head of the Uganda High Commission in Pretoria said so far there had been no reports of any Ugandan injured or attacked in the wave of xenophobic protests.
He said an estimated 200,000 Ugandans are living and working in South Africa.
Many jobless South Africans accuse foreigners of taking jobs in a country where the unemployment rate is above the 24 percent mark.
Meanwhile the Foreign Affairs ministry spokesperson Fred Opolot says they are closely monitoring the situation and it’s too early to make a decision on evacuation.
The opposition is asking government to address factors that force Ugandans to seek for survival in foreign countries.
The Shadow Justice Minister Medard Lubega Ssegona blames the exodus on the sale of state enterprises that used to provide employment to Ugandans.
Ssegona says government must come up with a clear evacuation strategy like was done in South Sudan.
Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has described the attacks of foreign nationals in South Africa as “unacceptable,” calling an immediate halt while expressing her deep concerns regarding the attacks.
