Black South Africans are “lazy” and “jealous” of the wealth foreigners make in their country hence the re-emergence of xenophobic attacks in that country, the Managing Editor of the Daily Dispatch newspaper, Ben Ephson, has said.

The re-emergence of xenophobic attacks in South Africa has resulted in several Ghanaians, Nigerians, and foreign nationals domiciled in most cities of that country, especially Johannesburg and Pretoria, locked up in their homes and unable to go about their normal business activities.

Speaking on World Affairs on Class91.3FM on Friday, 24 February, Mr Ephson noted that black South Africans are frustrated as a result of their poverty caused by their own lazy attitude towards work.

“Essentially, when people are poor, they feel frustrated and they want to vent their anger on innocent people,” he told show host Dr Etse Sikanku.

“…You live in a community with people who have come there looking for opportunities. They work maybe 18 or 20 hours a day and you see them buying things and shipping it home or the guy has gone to buy a motorbike or has gotten a second-hand vehicle he or she is using and you begin to think: ‘I live here [but] I don’t have these things, why should they have it?’ forgetting that you are being lazy. Maybe you are not prepared to take 200 Rand an hour. You are asking for 400 Rand an hour and he (the foreigner) coming there knowing what he or she wants to do is taking 200 Rand. So, they (South Africans) decide to go on a looting spree. Something needs to spark them to do this and it’s more of poverty, need and jealousy.”

Meanwhile, Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has said the Ghanaian mission in Pretoria is on top of ensuring the safety of Ghanaians there.