- Time for the Federal Government to warn against further attacks
The collapse of apartheid rule and the historic institution of popular democratic governance in South Africa in 1994 no doubt created fresh opportunities, particularly for immigrants from African countries, to partake of the economic benefits offered by a richly endowed country from which they were previously barred under the racially discriminatory ancient regime. Nearly two and a half decades after that momentous milestone, however, sustained acts of xenophobic violence, mostly targeted at African immigrants, have continued to blight the once widely admired image of post-racist South Africa as symbolising a model, harmonious multi-racial ‘rainbow coalition’.
Apparently frustrated by the failure of the post-apartheid dispensation to meet their high economic expectations, especially in terms of poverty alleviation, job creation and significantly reduced inequality; black South Africans have taken to venting their spleen on immigrants whom they hold responsible for their plight. Their antagonism is motivated by the belief that these immigrants are taking opportunities for access to jobs, housing, commodities and entrepreneurship which ought rightly to accrue to them as citizens.
It is certainly true that some categories of immigrants like Nigerians, for instance, given their acknowledged natural drive, high confidence and long entrepreneurial experience are well placed to compete effectively within the framework of a free market.
This perhaps explains but offers no justification for why Nigerians in South Africa have borne a more than proportionate brunt of the xenophobic onslaught against foreigners in that country. The Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, gave an insight to the precarious situation of Nigerians resident in the country when she said: “We have lost about 116 Nigerians in the last two years and in 2016 alone, about 20 were killed. This is unacceptable to the people and government of Nigeria”. Apart from meeting with the South African High Commissioner in Nigeria, Mr. Lulu Aaron-Mnguni, to protest the killings, Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa, also called for the intervention of the African Union (AU) to prevent future recurrences.
While Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa’s exertions are not out of place and indeed commendable, we find the silence and inaction of the Federal Ministry of External Affairs on the matter inexplicable. Surely, this issue is serious enough for influential voice of the foreign minister, Mr. Geofrey Onyeama, or at least the Minister of State, to be heard. This is more so that the President of the Nigerian Union, South Africa, Mr. Ikechukwu Anyere, has said that members of the Nigerian community continue to receive threatening calls against their homes and businesses, including demands for money to avert such attacks.
The South African government must be told by the Federal Government that future attacks against our citizens will attract consequences. Such proactive and firm action by the government will render unattractive and unnecessary the ill-advised calls in some quarters for reprisal attacks against South African businesses in Nigeria. The assurance by the South African High Commissioner to Nigeria that his government is investigating the killings of Nigerians is insufficient, especially when none of the perpetrators of this crime has reportedly ever been brought to book.
We are of course not unaware of allegations that some Nigerians in South Africa are complicit in crimes against the laws of their host country; such infractions should definitely not be condoned, if true. But the solution to that can surely not be mob actions against innocent citizens without recourse to the due process of law. A situation should not be encouraged in which Nigerians are collectively stereotyped, demonised and subjected to extrajudicial punishment. That would be as immoral and unjustified as the erstwhile apartheid system that Nigeria incidentally sacrificed so much to help bring to an end.
