Business forum decries xenophobic attacks

The Prospecton Business Forum (PBF) decried the wave of attacks on foreign nationals this week in the South Durban area and across eThekwini Municipality.

“The lack of tolerance and nature of the attacks is worrying and does not augur well for community relations and social harmony,” said PBF chairman, Mark van Wyk.

Local business owners who contacted the forum expressed concern for the safety of their staff, as well as the impact on the local economy.

“No good can come of this, with tensions between locals and foreign nationals increasing,” warned Mark.

The forum’s membership base stretches from the port of Durban to the Umkomaas River.

“We call on government and the municipality to exercise everything within its power to arrest this wave and seek concrete ways of addressing the root causes of the problem. We do not have the privilege of time when lives are being lost and our local economy is being destroyed. Government must be decisive in dealing with this matter.

The brand ‘Durban’ is being eroded with every attack and the economic impact on our tourism and events sectors will be immense, notwithstanding local business doing business in Africa that will be negatively affected, as well as many jobs lost as a result of these irrational acts,” said Mark.

The forum is keen to work with stakeholders in seeking a solution to these attacks and will support any initiative to restore peace, calm and humanity to eThekwini and the South Durban in particular.