Pretoria – The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) has appealed to communities to foster peace and tolerance, at a time when the country has experienced days of violent looting and widespread vandalism.
“The CRL Rights Commission is deeply concerned about the unprecedented prevailing conflict that has devastated some parts of our country which is creating discomfort to cultural, religious, and linguistic communities.
“The commission condemns the unfortunate activities that we have witnessed through the media since the previous weekend,” said chairperson of the commission, Prof David Mosoma.
“The commission would like to remind our communities that it is through such activities that our hard-earned freedom and Constitution is not only threatened but that these acts further contribute to the erosion of the moral fibre of our nation and an attack on our democratic values which are intended to be the building blocks of the ideal rainbow nation.”
Mosoma appealed to communities to intensify tolerance, and find peaceful means to resolve conflict.
“We make a clarion call to cultural, religious, and linguistic communities to remain vigilant and continue to protect and promote the values of peace, friendship, unity, tolerance, and social cohesion as espoused by the CRL Rights Commission’s Act 19 of 2002.
“It is through these values that our communities will remain intact and face the challenges as a collective, through peaceful means in order to build a society that continuously respect the dignity and well-being of others and create equal opportunities for all in pursuit of attaining a South Africa that is diverse yet remaining one nation,” Mosoma said.
The CRL Rights Commission applauded communities that are taking steps towards protecting and rebuilding what is from the days of destruction.
“It is our view that those who will be most impacted by these acts of destruction and devastation are the poorest in our communities, particularly, as the aftermath may take some time to deal with, thereby posing a dreadful potential which could wipe out the little gains achieved in the last few years since the dawn of democracy,” said Mosoma.
“It is on this basis that we call upon all communities to be mindful of the rights of others, to leave peacefully and co-exist while exercising their own rights. We urge communities to desist from activities that exacerbate conflict but implore them to give support to each other in dealing with challenges facing our individual communities.”
The commission emphasised that irrespective of motives, there can never be any justifiable reason to vandalise or destroy our infrastructure or even to fan racial conflicts as we have witnessed in Phoenix and other communities.
Shopping malls in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal have been extensively looted and vandalised in the ongoing wave of unrest that started in KwaZulu-Natal after former president Jacob Zuma was incarcerated.
African News Agency (ANA)