The MultiChoice group chief executive officer Calvo Mawela has condemned the ongoing violence in South Africa against foreign nationals saying it is against the spirit of Africa and counterproductive to the decades of work done by African leaders.
In a statement issued on Wednesday Mawela emphasised that MultiChoice is an African company and represents the continent in all its diversity.
“We embrace and celebrate the diversity of varied nationalities’ traditions, cultures, and religions from across the continent and beyond. The xenophobic violence which erupted in South Africa this week targeting foreign nationals especially Nigerian business has escalated to a national crisis which has seen Nigerians and Zambians turning on South Africans in their countries,” Mawela.
The BBC also reported on Wednesday that many African celebrities have turned against South and that Nigerian singers and Zambia’s football team are among those in the boycott. Nigerian artist Burna Boy shared on Twitter that he has also suffered xenophobia in South Africa.
“But Today After watching the Killing of my people in South Africa the same way we have all watched it happen a few times in the past. F(*K ALL THAT! I have had my own xenophobic experiences at the hands of South Africans and because of that.”
Nigerian Singer Tiwa Savage also boycotted a festival in South Africa where she was booked to perform.
“I refuse to watch the barbaric butchering of my people in SA. This is SICK. For this reason, I will NOT be performing at the upcoming DSTV delicious Festival in Johannesburg on 21 September. My prayers are with all the victims and families affected by this,” she said.
