PRETORIA – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his condolences for the deaths of 15 people in a Soweto tavern and the murder of four people in similar circumstances in Pietermaritzburg.
President Ramaphosa offered his condolences to the families of those who died in the two incidents and wished the injured survivors a speedy recovery.
The president also called on security agencies and community members to work together to urgently hold the perpetrators of the two attacks to account.
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The president said: “As a nation, we cannot allow violent criminals to terrorize us in this way, regardless of where such incidents occur.
“As government, citizens and civil society structures, we all need to work even more closely together to improve social and economic conditions in communities, reduce violent crime and eradicate illicit firearms trafficking.
“Every violent death is unacceptable and disturbing, and the killings on the scale we have seen in Soweto, Pietermaritzburg and previously in Khayelitsha must spur us into a collective effort to build communities and make South Africa an unsafe place for criminals.”
