Government says there is nothing more it can do to help end xenophobia in South Africa other than appealing to that country’s government to sort out the problem.
Chief government spokesperson Chishimba Kambwili says the xenophobic attacks being perpetrated in South Africa is that country’s internal security matter and therefore the onus of resolving it remains on its government.
Mr. Kambwili who is also Information and Broadcasting Services Minister has told Qfm News by telephone the only help the Zambian government has given in this case is to request SADC to intervene.
He says SADC has to this effect taken an initiative in addition to the statement that AU has made with respect the attacking of foreign nationals in South Africa.
Mr. Kambwili has also disclosed that the Zambian government since been reliably informed of the pledge that South African President Jacob Zuma has made to the rest of SADC member states of sorting out the said problem.
I.Diotic kambwili repatriate our brothers and. Sisters beta dy of hunger than that kind of death
Of course GRZ cant do anything, its full of empty tins.
You should have allowed people to demonstrate and go to the South African embassy last Friday. That way Zuma would have been told that Zambians are pisssed.
THERE’S NOTHING JACOB ZUMA CAN DO ABOUT XENOPHOBIA/AFRO-PHOBIA IN SA. HE HAS NO POWERS WHATSOEVER TO STOP IT. HE IS ALSO RELYING ON THE KILLERS TO SATISFY THEMSELVES OF THEIR KILLING AND STOP. I AM SAYING THIS BECAUSE OF WHAT I SAW OF A STRIPPED WOMAN WHIPPED AND STONED TO DEATH WITH SOUTH AFRICAN MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN WATCHING IN DELIGHT.
Toothless brainless government! There are many ways of skinning a cat and you font have the brains to see them! What did we elect you for? To stash taxpayers money in your belly? Work for that money. You have Zambians living in this country. Nigeria has acted. Why can’t you? You fat slobs.
How safe are your citizens residing there? Are you assured that they are 100% safe and sound? Only then can we be convinced of what you are saying. All the rest is rhetoric.
Black South Africans are violent savages that need to be taken back under White control. Notice how they can attack a fellow Black African in a second but are afraid to raise a hand a hand to their White masters? Pure COWARDS! I know longer see Black South African people as kin and I will take that to the grave with me
What would you expect from a government official who does not care for his own health?
Of course there’s nothing these chaps can do, or else they face blacklisting from Milpark and Morningside Clinics!! A bunch of toothless, visionless politicians!! Inchito kubwata bwata fye and promising to sort out Watchdog and Post. Ifyabupuba!
I supported LUNGU voted lungu and stil on his side bt if he won’t act on this then am off de boat. I can’t supot a govment that is not action oriented
When is the deadline?
Meanwhile immigrants are being persecuted!
Kapoli I.diot bring our people back home pliz we ar not so desperate
Have they even told you they want to come back. I spoke to a Zambian in Johannesburg and he told me the news of xenophobic attacks is exaggerated. What say you to that, wise @kelvin?
Is it the government which took them there? The way they jumped on that Mazhandu bus is the same way they should jump on it and come back.
Kalok Tell this Zambian you spoke to to open his eyes now. He may open them when its too late and he is in a coffin. Exaggerated?!
These people burn other human beings alive! Have you ever seen that in Zed?
Does Kambwili have to open his mouth even when he has nothing sensible to talk about?
….tho the fire seems to have been quenched for now…..the smouldering shall take long to disappear…..foreigners will be attacked, disappearing one by one in a systematic way… mark my words….
This xenophobia issue is send a clear message also to all those people in diaspora. Don’t think you are 100% safe living in places developed by other people and start throwing mud at yo country of origin. Home is home regardless of who is president. One thing you should always is that not everydays are Christmas.
Just as clueless as his president. As long as you have zambians living there the government will have things to do simple.
I have never seen such barbaric people like South Africans. The moment I saw videos of a woman lying on the ground and people crushing her head with stones, people with hands tied behind their backs and being burnt alive, I have stopped regarding South Africans as normal people.. And Zuma cannot pretend he is sorting out the issue as long as that *****ic chief who triggered the confusion is not arrested.
This government of CHIMBWE EL is useless. How can a minister say we can’t do nothing! Come 2016 EL should be replaced by pure mubemba from Northern. Viva Original PF…Viva
RSA holds Zambia high on the hierarchy of political allies. Declaring there is nothing else Zambia can do is assuring South Africa that there is nothing wrong going on there.
GRZ is this a wise and inspiring position? Having gone through ZNS and the Zambian Education system with Civics and SSF and taught Political Education in College, I feel terribly betrayed by ECL regime!!!!
The hostility exhibited towards the government in this country is alarming! Zambia is hosting a lot of refugees from other countries, why haven’t their governments taken them back? Is there any country as at now that have repartriated all its nationals from SA because of xenophobic attacks? There are procedures that need to be followed! Humans choose where they want to be at any particular time. Right now Zambians are still boarding buses to SA despite the attacks. How does the government stop the mobility of people without infringing their rights? We should sometimes criticise with sense!
poor analysis, those guys being attacked are not refugees
Ba Kambwili nainwe Ofcourse there is something you can still do e.g establish a hotline at which Zambian nationals can call whenever in distress or they can’t account for a relative or friend. Such simple innovation can instill confidence in your people assuring them that their government is trying to do something about their safety. Raising your hands saying there isn’t anything you can do is both despairing as well as demotivating. As government you should stand up and show leadership in bringing hope to your people.
What government can do:
1. Give South African government ultimatum (like Nigeria did). They risk closing Shoprite and other South African companies.
2. Recall diplomats from RSA.
3. No more export of power from Zambia, etc until that government controls its blood-thirst killers and hooligans.
4. Demand South Africa’s isolation by the international community
5. Demand South Africa’s suspension from the African Union and drop the South African leader of its institution.
6. Seek for the death sentence to life imprisonment for those murderers and demand accountability.
Mr. Kambwila, there is a lot that Zambia and the African Union can do. South Africa is a shame to Africa. They are doing the same thing the Boers did to them and worse. They are just like Boko Haram and ISIS,…
While I understand your anger my brother, and all of us are outraged at this savagery, a nation like ours cannot squeeze a giant like South Africa. We would simply squeeze ourselves out. We need to work with other countries to put pressure on South Africa. That is why the president’s first action was to consult the SADC and AU chair – and some fools here do not get it.
@Victor: I completely agree with you on this one. Zambia can do so much to stop this barbaric behaviour. Zambia is South Africa’s biggest trading partner in Africa. Just this alone is Mr Kambwili’s answer.
To add on Victor’s lost, Zambia can:
1). Threaten to take its trade to other countries, even EU countries.
2). Zambia can threaten South Africa that she would suspend/cancel all construction/mining and related contracts that have been awarded to South African Countries.
3). The Government can provide transport or repatriation arrangements to Zambians who are living in South Africa
4). The Zambian government can influence other nations to cut trade and boycott SA products
4). They can demand for removal of South Africa from AU/SADC and even influence international…
But zoona these South Africans are heartless, what sort of jobs are they talking about that foreigners have taken? I have lived in South Africa and the way they live is bad. They behave like villagers and they can’t even construct a simple sentence in English. Ata bane, Zuma is the dullest president I have ever seen. He didn’t even finish high school. I couldn’t believe it. I’m proud of my presidents mwee. .. God bless my country and my pipo.
THESE ARE THE LEADERS YOU HAVE AND CONTINUE TO VOTE FOR. THEY ARE CLUELESS IN EVERY AREA.
@Adviser, good point. While I realize how our economy is linked to South Africa, morally I think Zambia and Africa must do a lot to put pressure on SA. When I watched how they killed the innocent young woman I just couldn’t sleep, what a ruthless bunch of people.
There is nothing like xenophobia here…xenophobia is discrimination… What we see here is daylight murder and terrorism.
If the government of South Africa were serious, police could be doing something by shooting to kill murderers on site. They were not doing that. I was in South Africa in 1995 when a group of call boys at a bus station started to bully us because they forced themselves to our luggage demanded to be paid which I refused. When I told them I will call the police, they were happy, “Call them!” they told me. I watched in the current misconduct a Somali woman bemoan that the police appeared to side with them than protecting the victims. What a disgrace!
What kind of talk is this? This is why we Africans never achieve anything!! How do you stand by and watch your fellow Africans being slaughtered and say there is nothing you can do?!!! Of course there is ALWAYS something you can do. THIS IS NOT OKAY!!! So no Zambian has been killed? You wait and see, it’s a matter of time. South Africans do not value life and it doesn’t matter who it is.