STATEMENT BY EBRAHIM RASOOL, CHAIRPERSON OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (WESTERN CAPE), ON THE VIOLENCE AND KILLINGS IN NYANGA
The ANC unequivocally and unconditionally condemns the killing of all four people in Nyanga since Sunday (07/03/99) and including the killing of Councillor Hlazo, and ANC member. The ANC is deeply shocked by the violence in that area and is committed to the re-establishment of peace.
The recent campaigns to register our people have shown that, without doubt, the ANC thrives when there is peace. In Nyanga, we registered our people maximally under conditions of peace. We have everything to gain when there is peace. All our efforts, therefore, for the next few days will be directed at regaining peace in Nyanga, and across the Western Cape.
Political leaders, therefore, have a profound responsibility to act - and to act with the sole objective of creating peace - in the face of violence. We need to defuse violence, not to fan it. We need to provide the police with information which advances investigation and prevents violence, rather than deepen the potential for conflict through untested suspicions and innuendoes. This is a time for restraint.
The ANC leadership - led by me - yesterday visited Nyanga and met the family of Councillor Hlazo, met Supt. Simon Mpembe and addressed community leaders of Nyanga. We had one single message: maintain peace and resist all possible provocation's or frustrations which lead to violence.
Our visit to Nyanga convinced us that peace cannot be established outside of Nyanga and away from the residents of Nyanga. It has to be worked for in Nyanga amongst the people. Towards this, the ANC has identified the following as actions which need to be implemented immediately:
1. We will tomorrow meet Commissioner Daniels and Supt. Mpembe to discuss the strategy to deploy the police in the affected areas in ways which defuse tensions and prevent any further violence;
2. Her Worship, Mayor of Cape Town, Noma-India Mfeketo, has indicated her intentions to convene the religious leaders of Nyanga with a view to an inclusive Church Service for Peace in the next 48 hours so that community, religious and political leaders can communicate the need for peace in the area. The ANC will support this by ensuring that the call for peace echoes widely;
3. The Secretary-General of the ANC in the Province, Mcebisi Skwatsha, will tonight be meeting ANC branches in that zone in order that every ANC member be activated into an agent for peace - defusing tensions and building the conditions for peace.
The need to establish peace immediately, in Nyanga, convinces us that the idea of a proposed Summit on Friday (12/3/99) in Sea Point misses the point. In the absence of such actions, talks and summits lose their credibility. The ANC is also aware that while radio debates between political leaders can be interesting listening to those far from the tension, it often only serves to inflame the passions in the affected areas. This will be especially in case on the current violence in Nyanga. We believe such debates to be counter- productive in the context of the killings and would rather urge that a co- operative spirit be engendered on the ground.
ISSUED BY CAMERON DUGMORE, ANC SPOKESPERSON
CELL: 082-894-7553