Government response to the ongoing xenophobic attacks in Gauteng is inadequate as the issue needs to be addressed as a "state of emergency", a coalition of human rights groups said in Johannesburg on Monday.
SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) deputy chairperson Zonke Majodina said government had failed to deal with the attacks.
"Government is not charting a course of action. This is a state of emergency. So far government's responses are not adequate. Political leaders have made very few statements and not come up with a co-ordinated response," she said.
Majodina said government should issue a moratorium on the arrest and deportation of all the victims of violence, regardless of their legal status.
She called on government to take urgent steps to intensify security in the province and reinforce the police's presence.
Although this was not the time to be pointing fingers, government had failed to implement legislation that was in place to protect immigrants.
"We have progressive legislation such as the Immigration Act and it's implementation on the ground is slow," Majodina said.
Meanwhile the Commission on Gender Equality has accused some political parties of fuelling the crisis.
Commission chairwoman Nomboniso Gasa said some political parties were going from door to door asking for the occupants' nationalities.
Gasa said these political parties were intensifying the problem.
She declined to name any party, saying her organisation would reveal a name after it concluded its report on the attacks.
Apart from the "political manipulation of the situation" there was a criminal element among the root causes of the attacks, Gasa said.
The SAHRC met with the Commission on Gender Equality, civil society organisations and the SA Council of Churches on Monday to map out ways of dealing with xenophobic attacks. – Sapa
CSVR is a multi-disciplinary institute that seeks to understand and prevent violence, heal its effects and build sustainable peace at the community, national and regional levels.
