For the third time in a decade Nigerians living in South Africa, as well as other Africans and Pakistanis, became targets for xenophobic attacks by angry citizens of their host country. The attacks, which started in Pretoria West eight days ago, spread to a few other places. Although no lives were lost, many Nigerians were attacked in the streets and their shops and business premises were looted and burnt. The Nigerian community in South Africa said many of its members suffered injuries and lost valuable property while other Nigerians said they received messages asking them to make payments in order to prevent their homes and businesses from coming under attack.
The latest xenophobic attacks in South Africa are coming just two years after the last round in 2015. Some lives were lost during the 2015 attacks and the then government of President Goodluck Jonathan recalled Nigeria’s envoys in that country for “consultation.” Seven years previously, in 2008, there were also violent attacks against Nigerians and other Africans which led to the loss of many lives, much property destruction and also sent thousands of people fleeing into neighbouring African countries.
The rioters say these attacks are because Nigerian and other foreign businesses in South Africa are used to sell hard drug and promote prostitution. A group calling itself the Mamelodi Concerned Residents organised a march in Pretoria last week and accused Nigerians and Somalis, in particular, of engaging in those two vices. The truth is that South Africa’s post-apartheid society is rife with economic and social problems, including a very high rate of unemployment. An estimated one quarter of South Africa’s adult population is unemployed, and these disaffected people blame foreigners for taking jobs away from locals. Such feelings are fuelled by some South African politicians and even by the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, whose unguarded utterances two years ago were blamed for sparking off a round of attacks on foreigners. The founder of South Africa’s new anti-immigrant political party called South Africa First, Mario Khumalo, also fuels the situation with his claim that 13 million foreign nationals live in South Africa even though the country’s last population census in 2011 put the number of foreigners resident in the country at 2.2 million.
Nigeria for one has taken serious exception to the latest events in South Africa. The Federal Government strongly condemned the xenophobic attacks and “urged the South African government to take the strongest measures to protect the lives and property of foreigners living in South Africa and also to quickly bring to justice the perpetrators of these heinous crimes.” A most worrying aspect of the attacks was the charge that South African policemen often partake in them rather than protect the victims. Foreigners who armed themselves with clubs in order to defend their property were zealously rounded up by the South African cops.
President Jacob Zuma however denounced the violence against foreigners saying, “It is wrong to brandish all non-nationals as drug dealers or human traffickers. Let us isolate those who commit such crimes and work with government to have them arrested, without stereotyping and causing harm to innocent people.” South Africa’s Interior Minister Malusi Gigaba said in Parliament that authorities would crack down on the employment of illegal migrants by local businesses, thus lending credence to one of the rioters’ charges.
South African High Commissioner to Nigeria Lulu Mnguni however said his government condemned the xenophobic violence and described it as despicable and demeaning of the African people. He said the culprits would not go unpunished and that irrespective of the level of grievances people feel, they are not allowed to take the laws into their hands. Mnguni however appealed to foreign nationals in South Africa or those proposing a visit to ensure that they travel with genuine documents and endeavour to respect the laws of their host country. He said drugs and prostitution are largely responsible for the recent crisis but that it would require a collective effort to eradicate them from the African continent.
The events in South Africa triggered an unfortunate response in Nigeria. Protesters in Abuja marched to the offices of telecoms giant MTN and satellite cable service provider DSTV, both of them South African owned. They smashed some gates and windows and said they were sending a strong message to South Africans to refrain from further xenophobic attacks on Nigerians. We strongly condemn the xenophobic attacks in South Africa and we also condemn the so-called reprisal attacks in Nigeria. We urge our own restive youths and civil society groups not to take any misguided actions that could further inflame the situation, jeopardise inter-African unity and cooperation and make it harder for authorities in both countries to find a solution. Two wrongs do not make a right. Neither MTN nor DSTV could be held responsible for the actions of thugs on South African streets anymore than Nigerian banks operating in South Africa could be blamed for drug trafficking by crooked businessmen.
That said, we fear that xenophobia is a very difficult disease to treat and we urge our government to see what else it can do to help the situation and reduce future friction, apart from breathing down the neck of the South African government. There are 800,000 Nigerians resident in South Africa and it is probably time to stem the tide. Government should discourage more Nigerians from taking up residence in that country and if possible, encourage some residents to return. More should also be done to encourage our countrymen living there to polish their attitudes and also engage strictly in legitimate businesses.
