S. Africans stand in solidarity with African Americans in fighting racial injustice: president

South Africans "stand in solidarity with our African-American brothers and sisters" in fighting racial injustice, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Saturday.

"The killing of George Floyd has opened up deep wounds for us all," Ramaphosa said at the 95th birthday celebration of Andrew Mlangeni, a South African anti-apartheid hero.

Outrage over the death of unarmed African American George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis has been growing across the United States. Floyd, 46, died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes until he stopped breathing.

"In the United States, our black brothers and sisters have embarked on a massive fight to reclaim their dignity," Ramaphosa said.

The struggles waged by Mlangeni and the fighters of his generation were foremost in the service of the people of South Africa, but they were also for the cause of liberation of all who suffer under tyranny and oppression, said Ramaphosa.

"That is why we stand in solidarity with our African-American brothers and sisters, and express our wish that the American people can reconcile, as we did, and close once and for all the doors of racial injustice," he said.

Ramaphosa said the episode of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa has particular resonance at this time because across the Atlantic Ocean, thousands of kilometres away, the dreaded dompas has resurfaced.

The dignity black Americans seek is the dignity that Mlangeni has fought for his entire life, he said.

The president stressed the need to address the legacy of racism that has resulted in blacks living in impoverished areas far from places of work and opportunity.

"We must press ahead with policies of redress and affirmative action to bring more black men and women into the world of work," the president said.