The ANC has issued a statement to\u00a0the Australian High Commission after Australian MP and opposition leader, Matthew Guy associated Johannesburg with crime.<\/p>\n
Guy made the remarks after a prison breakout took place at Melbourne’s Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre on Wednesday (25 January).<\/p>\n
Speaking on\u00a0Victoria premier Daniel Andrew’s failure to address Melbourne’s increasing crime rate he said that Andrews was: “turning Melbourne into the Johannesburg of the South Pacific.”<\/p>\n
The ANC has subsequently issued an official statement asking Guy and the Australian High Commission to clarify what he meant.<\/p>\n
“The ANC calls on the High Commission of Australia in Pretoria to clarify the comments made by Mr. Matthew Guy MP\u201a” the party said in a statement on Thursday, 26 December.<\/p>\n
“These comments are regrettable\u201a and feed into lazy stereotypes of African cities as crime havens\u201a” the ANC said.<\/p>\n
“They serve to tarnish the reputation of the City of Johannesburg – known widely as the gateway to Africa; and regularly cited amongst several indices as a world-class city.<\/p>\n
The ANC also laid the blame at the feet of current Johannesburg mayor, Herman Mashaba – saying that it was commentary from\u00a0Mashaba about Joburg\u00a0being crime-riddled that\u00a0had obviously reached Australian ears.<\/p>\n
This is the second time Guy has criticised\u00a0Australia’s crime levels using South Africa as a reference. In August 2016<\/a><\/strong>, he said that increasing levels of car hijackings in the region made “residents think they are living in Johannesburg, not Victoria”.<\/p>\n
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