Africa-Press – South-Africa. Qatar’s foreign affairs ministry has retracted a statement on the mass shooting at a Soweto tavern, in which the Arab nation had reiterated its rejection of violence and terrorism.
Widely shared on social media, the statement read:
“The State of Qatar expresses its strong condemnation and denunciation of the shooting incident which took place in the suburb of Soweto in the city of Johannesburg in South Africa and led to deaths and injuries.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms the State of Qatar’s firm position on the rejection of violence and terrorism, regardless of the motives and reasons. The Ministry expresses the State of Qatar’s condolences to the families of the victims and to the government and people of South Africa.”
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Clayson Monyela, spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco), intervened in the matter.
He tweeted: “Following my discussions with the Qatar Ambassador to [South Africa] and the Qatar Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, our good friends at Ministry of Foreign Affairs… have since withdrawn and deleted the statement on the shooting incident in Soweto. We thank them & appreciate their solidarity & support.”
In a follow-up tweet, Monyela said Qatar was a good friend of South Africa.
On Sunday, 15 people were killed by gunmen who opened fire at a tavern in Nomzamo Park, Soweto, shortly after midnight. Nine people were critically injured.
Elsewhere in Pietermaritzburg, four people succumbed to bullet wounds after two men opened fire after parking their vehicle at a drinking spot in Sweetwaters at 20:30 on Saturday night.
Twelve people were shot. Eight of the casualties are in hospital.
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