Africa Day| Fellow Africans are not our enemies, says Ramaphosa

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has called on South Africans to exercise tolerance and to fight xenophobia in all its forms.

This as the continent marks Africa Day on Wednesday, which is a commemoration of the 1963 founding of the African Union – known then as the Organisation of African Unity.

“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.

President Ramaphosa reflected that during the height of Apartheid, other African countries opened their borders to South Africans who