'Foreigners are God's people too' - Archbishop Thabo

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town has added his voice to calls for an end to the current outbreak of xenophobic violence. 

He issued the following statement in Cape Town today. A slightly shorter audio version of the statement, sent to radio stations, follows below the text version:

After the attacks on African migrants in South Africa were ended in 2008, we hoped we had seen the end of xenophobic conflict in our country. 

But more than five years on, the tension has erupted again, people are dying again and now we are seeing the spectre of revenge attacks from migrants.

Foreigners are God's people too and deserve the dignity and protection we enjoy. This is not ubuntu, it is painful and deeply regrettable.

I join my colleagues in the churches and other religious leaders in calling for an end to the attacks, in calling for restraint on all sides and in sending our condolences to the families of those who have died.