JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s government is calling on security forces in the United States to use “maximum restraint” in responding to the protests over the killing of George Floyd.
The statement cites Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor as saying that just as Americans supported South Africa in its struggle against apartheid, “South Africa, too, supports the clarion calls for practical action to address the inadequacies highlighted by protesters.”
The statement also warns that the violence marking some of the protests in the U.S. “seriously detracts from drawing international awareness to the legitimate concerns about violence against defenseless black people and other minorities in America.”
The statement ends by expressing the belief that the U.S., “a beacon of freedom for many worldwide, has the ability to directly focus on healing and peace.”
