Mnangagwa in touch with Ramaphosa over Afrophobia

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has slammed senseless xenophobic attacks taking place in South Africa since last weekend and said he was working closely with President Cyril Ramaphosa on the issue.

This comes amid widespread violence and looting targeted at mainly businesses owned by African immigrants.

Five people have been confirmed dead in the violence and many others injured.

President Mnangagwa, who is in Cape Town, South Africa, for the World Economic Forum (WEF) for Africa 2019, yesterday said all forms of "hate-driven" violence should be condemned in the strongest terms possible.

"We strongly condemn all forms of hate-driven violence and applaud the South African authorities for the swift way they have responded.

"We are closely following the situation and are in regular contact with our South African counterparts and HE (His Excellency) @CyrilRamaphosa," said President Mnangagwa on his Twitter handle.

President Mnangagwa, who also chairs the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, told Zimbabweans living in South Africa on Tuesday that he was hopeful that authorities in Pretoria would find ways of ending the xenophobic violence.

"I have no doubt that the authorities here will not fold hands, they must bring sanity and to do so they must apply a bit of force," he said.

On Tuesday, President Ramaphosa condemned the xenophobic attacks, adding that he was convening ministers from the security cluster to ensure they dealt with the worrying issue. "I condemn the violence that has been spreading around a number of our provinces in the strongest terms.

"I'm convening the ministers in the security cluster today to make sure that we keep a close eye on these acts of wanton violence and find ways of stopping them," he said.

Despite an increase in police presence in Johannesburg and Pretoria where attacks on businesses run Africans have been taking place since Sunday night, more tacks were recorded on Tuesday night.