Fellow Africans Are Not Our Enemies - South African President

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on South Africans to exercise tolerance and to fight xenophobia in all its forms. This comes after the continent marked Africa Day, which is a commemoration of the 1963 founding of the African Union.

"As we address the critical issue of illegal immigration, as is our right as a sovereign nation, let us never become like the former oppressors, who sought to divide the African people and turn us against each other ... Our brothers and sisters from elsewhere in Africa are not our enemies. Our common enemies are the scourges of poverty, crime, unemployment and social exclusion. We need to work together to defeat them, and not turn on each other as Africans," the president said.

Ramaphosa'a comments come a month after the killing of Elvis Nyathi, a Zimbabwean citizen who lived in Diepsloot, Johannesburg where anti-crime protests escalated to alleged mob action with community members roving the township demanding to see residents' passports or identity documents to determine their nationality.