Hyderabad:Days after hundreds of businesses owned by Indians were destroyed and scores of people, largely Indians and those of Indian origin, were killed in South Africa, the Government of India on Friday said it has taken up the matter with its counterpart in the African country.
"We are in touch with the South African Government & its concerned agencies to ensure the safety of lives & livelihoods of the Indian community facing uncertainty in SouthAfrica (sic)," Consulate General of India in Durban tweeted on Friday. Tagging India's Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar, it said he spoken with Dr Naledi Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, who has assured that normalcy will be restored and "peace was her government's overriding priority".
Also read:Indian-origin residents in S.Africa arm to defend themselves
The High Commissioner of South Africa in New Delhi said it has updated the Government of India on the situation in South Africa. The Indian diplomats based in South Africa said they were in touch with the Indian community leaders and have offered support and assistance for the distressed families. They said those in distress may contact the embassy on call or text 0648800086 and 0679056812 for help, they said.
Protests broke out a day after former South Africa president Jacob Zuma, who wields support among the poor and loyalists in the governing African National Congress (ANC), began a 15-month jail term on July 7. He was on June 29 sentenced for defying an instruction to give evidence at an inquiry into corruption during his nine years in power. The agitations quickly turned into looting as crowds pillaged shopping malls and warehouses, hauling away goods even as the police stood by, seemingly powerless to act.
In a shocking statement on Thursday, Zuma's the incumbent President Cyril Ramaphosa said the violence and looting against people with Indian origin in South Africa over the past week were planned. As many as 121 people, mostly of Indian origin, have died in the country's worst post-apartheid era violence in the past week, forcing the Indian-origin residents in South Africa to buy weapons, organise armed groups to defend their families and businesses. Durban, a coastal city in eastern South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, where the riots are intense, is home to more than 70 per cent of the 1.4 million Indian origin population in the country.
