Business Unity SA (Busa) warned on Thursday of dire consequences for SA if the violence continued.
"The continued violence against foreign nationals is sending a negative message to the international business community and could potentially affect South African businesses that are operating in the region and the continent‚" Busa said.
The violence has predominantly occurred in Johannesburg and Durban.
Another organisation‚ Business Leadership SA (BLSA)‚ said it was concerned about the increasing sense of intolerance‚ violence and lawlessness in SA‚ which it saw as a national emergency.
"The state must show that it has the will and fortitude to ensure law and order and to defend the Constitutional values the president of the republic is entrusted and obligated with‚" BLSA said in a statement on Thursday.
Busa said in an environment of fiscal constraints and weak economic growth that is insufficient to create jobs‚ a further dent in investor confidence was the last thing SA needed.
The business organisation said while it did not support illegal and undocumented foreign nationals entering SA‚ it had confidence in the country’s immigration framework and administrative institutions.
"We believe government should deal with illegal migrants within the parameters of our legal framework"‚ the organisation said.
Busa said it was concerned about the violence that had erupted against foreign nationals and the gross violation of their human rights.
– BDlive
Post published in: Africa News