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Fred M’membe joins in condemning attacks on South African Businesses in Zambia

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The Socialist Party Presidential candidate for the 2021 Elections Fred M’membe has joined in condemning what he described as criminal acts of destroying assets, businesses belonging to South African companies.

In a statement released to the media condemning the South AfricaXenophobic attacks as barbaric, Dr M’membe said that the distressing xenophobic attacks we are seeing in South Africa should not turn us into animals.

Below is the full statement

By Fred M’membe on behalf of the Politburo of Socialist Party

September 4, 2019

Garden Compound, Lusaka

The barbarism going on in South Africa must be condemned in the strongest terms and those responsible brought to book immediately. But it cannot be answered with barbarism, with criminal acts of destroying assets, businesses belonging to South African companies.

We all have every right to be angered by the xenophobic attacks on fellow Africans being carried out by ignorant and criminal elements in that country.

But the distressing xenophobic attacks we are seeing in South Africa should not turn us into animals.

We, therefore, urge all our leaders, political or otherwise, to avoid inflammatory statements that can easily encourage weak souls to resort to criminal acts against South Africans, their assets and businesses in this country.

The challenges of unemployment, poverty, hunger, ignorance, and disease facing our people on this continent cannot be solved through violence, counter-violence or vengeance. There’s no sense to revenge. On whom are you taking revenge? History? The apartheid society that engendered these monsters? What are you avenging?

It is possible to denounce xenophobia without preaching hatred, vengeance.

We who are revolutionaries, socialists, Christians don’t preach hatred, vengeance.

What we preach is the repudiation, rejection, and hatred of xenophobia and the system that breeds it, that is neoliberal capitalism.

We cannot be preaching hatred among human beings, because in the final analysis human beings are victims of the system.

Anyone who engages in criminal acts in the name of avenging the xenophobic attacks going on in South Africa should be arrested and prosecuted as an outright criminal.

Situations like these call for cool headedness, sober mindedness and not recklessness. They call for strong and clear leadership in all the affected countries, for a strong application of law and order.

13 COMMENTS

    • Usually barbarians believe in “eye for an eye”.
      I like the Nigerian approach, a massive lawsuit on South Africa, demanding alot of money to compensate the deaths of Nigerians and repaying the damaged properties.
      Zambians should take advantage to turn around and show world that they are better than trashy South Africans.
      Zambian leadership is be better than those useless South African leaders. Lungu, Lusambo and now Mmembe all are out to bring sanity in Lusaka.

    • Those marauding xenophobic savages can’t even read! Sanctions are needed again, this is another form of apartheid.

  1. Ba Mmembe just sit down go back to post news paper and start paying tax period… Will you allow us to kill your brothers and sisters then u blame on material things?? We are even better in destroying things they are killing our own brothers and sisters are u with them… You have bad manners.

  2. Our students and lectures at UNZA are very backward and shallow. Today we see graduates from that institution who can’t construct a simple sentence in English. We see lecturers politicking instead of researching to better their academic prowess and contribute to the country.
    UNZA is one university that cannot survive without Government grants yet the peers fundraise using research and consultancy. The university is well known for very wrong reasons, drunkenness, slay queens, destruction of properties the list is endless.

  3. The UNZA students don’t even understand that 99% of Zambians are the ones employed in the South African stores and business.

  4. Destroying properties belonging to South Africa businesses is counterproductive because the majority employed by these businesses are Zambians.The ignorance shown by the attacking mobs in SA is appalling to say the least.

  5. Yes Comrade Fred M’membe, you know how much Zambia and the region need each other. Zambia has endured a lot because of able leadership. When the Southern border was closed in 1965 Zambia was at the receiving end. Even with blatant provocation from Ian Smith and the Boers we still chose peace. The youngsters who don’t know the value of peace are the ones instigating violence. I wish to end by repeating what Brigadier General Godfrey Miyanda once said when some quarters celebrated the military takeover of Government. He said that as a commissioned officer, when he advocates for peace he knows how much harm war can cause because he understands what military weapons can do having worked with them.

  6. When our African brothers and sisters were being assaulted all Zambian politicians including Eagle one were hiding under their beds in the name of sober mindedness.
    UNZA students decide to show the spirit of Ubuntu and they come out from under their beds condemning an act of bravely. UNZA students have shown leadership, and since our politicians are cowards the only thing they know how to do very well is the condemnation of exemplary acts of bravely.

  7. Ba-Dokowe muli mbushi saana yaama imwe. What exemplary acts of bravery about those cretins (students) are you talking about? Retards

  8. There is nothing more important than life – It must be protected, saved and treasured at all times. This xenophobia problem has been happening every year since 2008, most of it is not even reported and the leaders in RSA have always denied it; they keep shifting the problem and blame on what the call “criminal elements” when its actually the ordinary South Africans who are just venting their anger on foreigners because their leaders have failed them (can’t be justified in whatsoever way). How can you solve a problem that you can’t acknowledge and later on call its name? Let the Church, Religious leaders, ANC, DA, EFF and other opposition parties, etc dialog and come up with some lasting solution to this impasse, else RSA is treading on thin air and might be become another Robin Island…

  9. Ironic and sad how Africans ask Jamaicans,Haitians & African Americans to come back and settle yet Africans can’t tolerate their fellow brothers from the continent.How will a Jamaican feel safe in Africa ?

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