Cape Town: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday that external forces may be instigating some anti-migrant violence in the country, adding that his government was investigating possible outside involvement.

Ramaphosa made the remarks while answering questions from Members of Parliament during an Oral Reply session in the National Assembly, where he addressed concerns over anti-migrant violence and its impact on South Africa's relations with other African countries.

"It's been interesting as we have also found that there have been activities that we have observed by a number of forces outside our country that have been bringing to bear their influence in this whole process," Ramaphosa said.

"Those foreign or sister countries on the continent have realized that, and they have said we know and we can see that quite a bit of this, certainly not all of it, but quite a bit of this is being propelled and instigated from outside of South Africa," he said.

Ramaphosa added "We have said that's precisely what we are following up as well. We are following those threads and those threats as well."

He said the problem was "complex" and "multifaceted," involving both South Africans and outsiders seeking to "disturb the stability in South Africa by getting South Africans to seem to be at war with Africans from other nations."

In his response, Ramaphosa stressed that the government had firmly rejected xenophobia, Afrophobia and vigilantism, while strengthening border management, addressing corruption in the immigration system and pursuing regional cooperation on migration.

"Migration challenges must be addressed through the rule of law, respect for human dignity and the strengthening of state institutions -- not through unlawful actions targeting foreign nationals," he said.

External forces may be instigating anti-migrant violence in South Africa, says president

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