The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Xenophobia

  • With Operation Dudula, South Africans renew assault on Nigerians, others

    With Operation Dudula, South Africans renew assault on Nigerians, others

    • Immigrants battle rising xenophobia as irate mobs barricade hospitals, schools
    • Conflict mimics apartheid era violence amid South Africa’s anti-immigrant rhetoric
    • Culprits must be arrested, prosecuted, says NIDCOM boss Dabiri-Erewa

    Tola Shoile endures Johannesburg like a mental wound. Twelve years after he relocated to the South African capital to make ends meet, the city seems poised to end him.

    “Jo’burg has taken too much from me. It cost me my business and bankrupted me. I lost everything in the xenophobic attacks of 2022,” he said, recalling how two members of his staff led an assault on his auto dealership in Cleveland, Johannesburg.

    Shoile disclosed that it took him a long while to recover from the shock of the betrayal. “I was very good to them. And I gave them bonuses even when they hadn’t earned it. Yet, they led a mob to burn down my shop. They burnt about 50 cars,” he said. “They accused me of taking their jobs but how is that possible when all I did was provide them employment? Now, they have started again,” said Shoile, bemoaning the recent wave of xenophobic attacks spearheaded by the Operation Dudula movement.

    Shoile’s fears are accentuated by the sad fate of fellow migrant, Ifeanyi Obi. Few months ago, Obi encountered terror in common hours. The 41-year-old had gone to the Jeppe Clinic with his wife and daughter for a post-natal check-up. While in the clinic, he stepped outside to “receive a package” from a client with whom he had previously fixed a meeting.

    “On my way out, I saw a crowd assembling at the hospital entrance and I suspected that it was the Dudula gang. But I had to get the cash from my client. I discharged him immediately and

    returned to get my wife,” he said.

    But as he approached the clinic, Obi saw that the crowd, previously scattered and ragtag, had coalesced into an organised mob: men and women from Operation Dudula milled around the hospital chanting “Foreigners must go!”

    As tensions intensified, the mob prevented Obi and a few others trying to access the clinic. To their chagrin, security personnel watched unperturbed as mothers with babies and other patients identified as foreigners were shoved back into the street.

    A section of the mob surged towards him and Obi scampered to safety. From a distance, he craned his neck to see if his wife, Bridgette, would emerge with their daughter pressed safely to her chest. But she didn’t.

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    “I went back later, after the mob dispersed, but I couldn’t find them. I dialled her number unsuccessfully and called our friends but none of them had seen her. I was so scared,” he said.

    Bridgette would later reach out to him from the outskirts of Johannesburg via a terse message. “I am at my cousin’s,” she said. She subsequently called him at midnight to tell him that: “A man like you stayed back to help me.” Since then, they have been estranged from each other.

    The Obis represent a fragment of a wider migrant community afflicted by South Africa’s xenophobic rage. Across Johannesburg’s inner-city tenements and the scattered townships of Gauteng, several migrant families, grapple with the consequences of xenophobia and other forms of anti-immigrant hysteria. Husbands vanish in street attacks and wives retreat to safer districts or back across the continent.

    For Rotimi Adegboye, the experience has been both “good and bad.” According to the 48-year-old, who hails from the Omowumi Abisogun Royal Family of the Iru/Ilashe kingdom in Eti-Osa area of Lagos State, since he relocated to South Africa in 2006, he has met with lots of wonderful South Africans who accepted and befriended him without discrimination.

    “On the other hand, I met with some South Africans that get intimidated because I am Nigerian. These ones attack you verbally, directly and indirectly, labelling you a drug mule or a scammer,” said Adegboye, adding that he has never suffered any grievous xenophobic attack.

    Yet, Oyindalopo Muyiwa, 46, recalled how her Zimbabwean neighbour was hacked in broad daylight, and the night a Malawian acquaintance’s cries carried through the alley as he was burned to death by people who used to be their neighbours.

    She subsequently relocated from her “toxic neighbourhood in central Joburg” to the northern part of the city, and subsequently, “a more friendly environment in Ontario, Canada.”

    South Africa, according to Muyiwa, is fast becoming a graveyard for African migrants and she didn’t wish to become a random casualty of xenophobic attacks by natives who think of immigrants as criminals and social parasites stealing their jobs and medicines.

    The hospital, internet as battlefield

    Through it all, the Operation Dudula movement has found a new stage for its campaign of erasure: the public health system. Hospitals and clinics, once sanctuaries for healing have been turned into scenes of exclusion. Recent viral videos circulating online, show men and women storming waiting halls and commanding patients to stand if they are foreign, demanding proof of their citizenship before they are allowed access to treatment.

    “If you know yourself that you are not a South African, please stand up,” one Dudula leader barked menacingly at the Roodepoort Clinic. “Don’t try us. We will check everybody.”

    The viral video of a defiant Nigerian woman being chased from a South African clinic and the euphoric approval by South Africans of the treatment meted to her further accentuates the wider climate of anti-Nigerian sentiment that has long simmered in the country’s streets and now thrives in its digital commons.

    Clutching her infant daughter in one arm and medical documents in the other, she dared her assailants to assault her even as she hurriedly left the hospital – without seeing the doctor – for her safety and that of her child.

    But rather than show compassion for mother and child, most South Africans on the comment thread attacked her.

    “Her bold attitude would have helped her in Nigeria, but no, she chose to come to SA to fight for her wrongs,” wrote @andiswatembela4942. His words setting the tone for many others who framed the woman’s presence in the hospital as an unwelcome intrusion.

    @NtombiMaseko-m7d was blunt: “Let them go,” and @PenelopeNgqumaza insisted, “Go and shout in your country.”

    The repeated use of “makwerekwere,” a slur for foreign nationals, underscores hostility. “Makwerekwere hasihambeni,” posted @LinaAkokwa. “Hambani makwerekwere,” echoed @sisterashericharmaine1602.

    For many, Operation Dudula embodies patriotic action. “Viva Dudula and March on March,” declared @thabojosepgsekhabisa9593, while @LizaMashaba celebrated: “Viva Dudula viva.” @BulelwaMatiwana-q9k added, “Thanks, viva Dudula vivac,” and @mrscashqueenb8855 endorsed the group’s stance: “They are doing a great job… even in Nigeria there is no free clinic and hospital.”

    Beyond nationality, some reduced the woman to a caricature. “They always shout. Fighting. Imagine this Nigerian oooo,” wrote @PenelopeNgqumaza. While others framed her “boldness” as arrogance. For @andiswatembela4942, her assertiveness was evidence that she didn’t belong.

    The stereotype of Nigerians as combative, disorderly, and unwilling to assimilate saturates the views while the struggle over scarce resources was a recurring theme.

    “There is a Nigerian who was talking on TikTok who said they have free hospitals in Nigeria lol, so my question is why they come to SA manje?” asked @triston9618.

    “Why would you have multiple children in a country you are not familiar with and you weren’t born in?” questioned @NomalwandleNdlovu, who acknowledged trauma for the woman’s children but still placed blame on her choices.

    The rhetoric sometimes turns chilling. “Uyazi lezizinja zama Nigeria kumele kezifundiswe isifundo,” posted @MarrySithole, adding that “These Nigerian dogs must be taught a lesson.”

    Yet amid the hostility, a few commenters pushed back. “This aggression of yours bro, is not necessary,” countered @rejoicevuragu651.

    “It’s painful though,” admitted @phumilushaba4892. “Chasing poor women and children is wrong,” said @PaulineVeremu.

    @brewedcoffee727 struggled with ambivalence: “This feels harsh and it’s pulling on my heart strings… painful to watch. But it has to be done… there needs to be order.”

    A broader reflection came from @TinasheManuel: “South Africa is isolating itself from a future that is united.”

    Some redirected their frustration toward the South African government. “Ma South Africans, let’s fast move this issue yamakwerekwere, so we can proceed to fight this Cape Independence. The country is going thanks to ANC & DA,” posted @ndukhumalo7794.

    The hostile commentaries illustrate how Nigerians are perceived as invaders by members of their South African host communities. The widespread support for the Operation Dudula shows how the sentiment is deeply entrenched in everyday discourse. While a handful of voices call for empathy, they are drowned out buy a swell of resentment.

    On social media, as on the streets, Nigerians in South Africa face a reality where their very presence and humanity are contested and too often denied.

    Offline, inside the clinical halls of Yeoville, Roodepoort, Lilian Ngoyi, and beyond, the refrain is the same: foreigners out.

    Pregnant and nursing mothers, including Nigerians, are driven out of hospital waiting halls and labour wards. Consequently, some pregnant women have gone into labour and birthed their children outside barricaded hospitals, unattended by qualified medical personnel.

    The Nigerian Union South Africa (NUSA) has catalogued these horrors: infants born on the cold bare floors, and mothers bleeding, unattended to, in waiting areas, as their weeping husbands are beaten up and chased away from hospital gates.

    NUSA President Smart Nwobi, a human rights lawyer, described the actions as “illegal and xenophobic,” warning that Nigerians are “dying daily” due to the blockades. “They are criminals operating under the guise of community activism,” Nwobi told reporters, urging President Bola Tinubu to raise the issue at the upcoming G20 Summit in Johannesburg. 

    More Nigerians in South Africa are pleading for urgent diplomatic intervention as the anti-migrant vigilante group escalates its campaign of intimidation, blocking foreigners from public hospitals and forcing vulnerable women to give birth on bare floors amid a fresh surge of xenophobic threats.

    Community leaders report that the group’s members have been aggressively confronting patients at facilities like the Roodepoort Clinic west of Johannesburg, demanding proof of South African citizenship before allowing entry.

    In viral videos circulating online, Dudula activists are seen marching through waiting areas, ordering non-citizens from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and other African countries to leave immediately. 

    “If you know yourself that you are not a South African, please stand up. Stand up right now. Don’t try us because we are going to check everybody,” one leader declared in a clip that has drawn widespread condemnation. 

    Operation Dudula’s gospel of expulsion

    Operation Dudula, founded in Soweto in 2021 and now a registered political party, claims its “Put South Africa First” slogan addresses crime, unemployment, and strained public services caused by undocumented migrants.

    Nhlanhla “Lux” Dlamini aka Nhlanhla Mohlauli, a South African activist, pilot and anti-immigrant activist, founded the movement at the age of 35.

    The group’s name, meaning “to force out” in isiZulu, reflects its goal of expelling perceived illegal immigrants, whom it accuses of fueling drug trafficking and job theft.

    The movement’s incumbent leader, Zandile Dabula, recently announced plans for a December 2025 school blockade campaign to bar non-South African children from enrollment, signaling further escalation amid claims that she actually hailed from Zimbabwe, and not South Africa.

    Speaking to the media on Monday, Dabula clarified that she is South African. She responded to critics calling for her deportation that she was born in Soweto.

    “I’m a bona fide citizen of this country. I was born and bred in Diepkloof in Soweto and not in Zimbabwe. That’s the only reason I want to put my fellow South Africans first, because I know their struggles,” adding that she is a victim of a smear campaign initiated by members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

    The EFF leader, Julius Malema, had taken a swipe at Operation Dudula, calling it “a group of thugs.”

    Malema said on X: “Operation Dudula is a group of thugs and must be subjected to the political killing task team. Period!”

    Interestingly, his statement ignited backlash from his supporters, with some accusing him of prioritising foreigners over South Africans and threatening to punish him at the polls.

    On its part, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has dismissed claims that it is protecting illegal foreigners due to its stance on protecting human rights for all individuals in South Africa, regardless of their nationality or immigration status.

    The commission condemned Operation Dudula, among others, for blocking immigrants from receiving medical care in public clinics and hospitals.

    The commission slammed Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi’s plans to clear out informal settlements at night, citing concerns about the danger and trauma it may cause to vulnerable groups, thus raising further concerns about the commission’s ability to prioritise South Africans.

    In an interview with the SABC, SAHRC chairperson Chris Nissen said the commission has noted concerns from South Africans complaining about not receiving adequate care in public healthcare facilities due to the overburdened system allegedly caused by foreigners.

    “It concerns us [that South Africans believe we are protecting illegal foreigners]. Unfortunately, our constitution is very clear that we need to protect the rights of all people in South Africa,” he said.

    Illegal immigrants ‘should not be here drug trafficking’, said Firoz Cachalia.

    “The fact is we are not protecting illegal foreign nationals. We are protecting people in this country, and we are looking after our citizens,” he said, stressing that the commission shouldn’t be accused of protecting illegal foreigners and that the responsibility to ensure all people in the country are in the country legally lies with law enforcement and the home affairs department.

    “Our home affairs need to do their work. People are accusing the commission and saying foreigners are being served more than South Africans. People are accusing us of protecting foreign nationals. Our act says we must protect the rights of our people, but it doesn’t say we can allow any illegal activity. If there’s any illegal activity, the police must take their course, relevant government institutions must take their course and do whatever they have to do to stop illegal activity.”

    Nissen added that borders need to be protected to stop the influx of illegal foreigners.

    “We are dealing with the end of the problem. Our border management and home affairs are not doing what they are supposed to do. I’ve visited so many borders, and there’s no border fencing; people can just walk across, come in, and do whatever they want to do.”

    Yet, section 27 of the South African Constitution promises healthcare for all, without discrimination. Doctors, bound by oath, echo the same. Yet at hospital gates, Dudula enforces its own constitution: one of violence, intimidation, and exclusion.

    The Department of Health has condemned these disruptions, calling them unlawful. Police have occasionally arrested Dudula members for storming clinics, only to release them on bail. The cycle continues: mob, arrest, release, repeat. The state’s condemnation, therefore, rings hollow in the ears of those still chased from wards.

    For most Nigerians, the betrayal cuts deep. They migrated to South Africa as students, traders, and professionals. They built shops, paid rent, and contributed to the urban hum. Yet in return, they are subjected to slurs, random beatings, and are now denied medical treatment.

    Why xenophobia thrives

    South Africa’s rage has roots. Xenophobia, argued doctoral major Bastien Dratwa, has a long and bloody history in post-apartheid South Africa. Social media has enabled anti-immigrant movements to reach larger audiences, harass migrants digitally, and organise across geographic boundaries. As elections approach in South Africa, xenophobic political rhetoric has intensified through online anti-immigrant movements like Operation Dudula and Put South Africans First. Without long-term strategies against the proliferation of hate speech and a pervasive anti-immigrant discourse, violence against migrants will be a hindrance to the socio-economic transformation of South African society, notes Dratwa.

    There is no gainsaying that xenophobia in South Africa stands out for its particularly violent nature. According to Witwatersrand University’s Xenowatch, xenophobic attacks resulted in 669 deaths, 5,310 looted shops, and 127,572 displacements between 1994 and March 2024. In May 2008, attacks took place in at least 135 locations across the country. The perpetrators of such attacks did not target white people but rather migrants from other African countries and to a lesser degree from South Asian countries, whom they blamed for increased crime and the high unemployment rate in South Africa.

    Yet, amid the widespread sentiments of disillusionment and inequality, politicians fan the embers. Foreigners become scapegoats as the ruling elite, eager for easy applause, point fingers outward rather than inward.

    Some political actors have tacitly approved of or encouraged xenophobia by accusing non-nationals of being criminals or pitting them against South African locals. On August 1, 2019, for instance, Community Safety Gauteng Member of the Executive Council, Faith Mazibuko, accused foreigners who fought back during a counterfeit goods raid in Johannesburg Central Business District of being “ungovernable” and striving “to turn the country into a lawless Banana Republic.”

    Gauteng premier David Makhura also contributed to the us-versus-them narrative by tweeting, “We are cleaning up our Central Business District. We will not rest until we take our city back” as he joined police in counterfeit goods raids on August 7, 2019 that resulted in the arrests of hundreds of undocumented foreigners. 

    The statement he released the following day appeared to pit South Africans against foreigners, stating that “as South Africans we must work collectively to build our economy.”

    Then, in the same month of that year, the Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba blamed undocumented foreigners for the shortage of medication, saying that “unfortunately we cannot send them back…we have got to treat them.”

    Furthermore, on October 26, 2019, he tweeted a photograph of a breakdown of arrests of non-nationals from Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The numbers of arrests spanning from 2016-2019 in Johannesburg, were high but were mostly for driving under the influence of alcohol. He did not reveal the number of arrests of South Africans, or of European, Asian or other foreigners, recklessly misrepresenting the picture of crime in the city and placing blame on African foreigners.

    Following xenophobic riots and attacks in Diepsloot in January 2020, Home Affairs Minister Motsoaledi, said, “Most people are not documented because they came here to commit a crime. They came as criminals, not as migrants. The fact that people just remain here and kill police, it is because they don’t want to be seen, and they don’t want to be known. They don’t want their fingerprints to be captured. Don’t confuse them with migrants.”

    Such language, no doubt, leaves all non-nationals susceptible to attack. The narrative hardens as foreigners are seen by larger segments of the citizenry as criminals and parasites. These sentiments have spread through Diepsloot, Port Elizabeth, Soweto, Gauteng over the years. Migrants have been robbed and beaten; their shops looted and torched, while the police often stood by, indifferent or complicit.

    One migrant recalled reporting robbers to police only to be told: “My brother, I don’t want to die for your safety.” Another watched officers smoke his cigarettes and sip his drinks after his shop was burned.

    Consequently, many African migrants live in fear. In Limpopo, Eritrean traders were chased from their homes as their shops got looted and burned to ash. In Soweto, spaza shops worth millions were destroyed in broad daylight and in Orange Farm, foreigners were robbed seven times over while local shops stood untouched.

    Nigerians on the receiving end…

    Few Nigerians will forget in a hurry, the South African assault on immigrants, in 2019. The attack started from the suburbs of Johannesburg on Sunday, September 1, 2019.

    By Monday, September 2, South African men and women wielding clubs and stones were marching through the central business district chanting war songs. In the melee, they looted and burned more than 70 businesses owned by Nigerians, Zimbabweans, Mozambicans, among others, to the ground.

    In the wake of a previous attack few months earlier, precisely July 2019, the then President of the Nigerian Senate, Ahmed Lawan, condemned the persistent attacks and killings of Nigerians in South Africa, warning that further attacks won’t be tolerated.

    Lawan, who hosted the South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Bobby Moroe, said at least 118 Nigerians had lost their lives in xenophobic violence over the years, including 13 allegedly killed by the South African police.

    “These killings must stop,” the Senate President said even as he cautioned that the circulation of graphic images of victims on social media could spark reprisals beyond the control of government, urging the South African leadership to urgently protect Nigerians living in the country.

    Lawan recalled Nigeria’s role in South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle, stressing that it was unacceptable for Nigerians to continue to die violently in South Africa given their history of helping the country in its time of need.

    Nigeria repatriated more than 600 citizens from South Africa following the spate of deadly xenophobic attacks that left at least 12 people dead and scores of businesses destroyed.

    The violence, which erupted in Johannesburg and Pretoria, targeted nearly 1,000 foreign-owned businesses and drew international condemnation.

    Predictably, the attacks strained relations between Nigeria and South Africa, triggering diplomatic protests and calls across Africa for boycotts of South African interests.

    In his remarks, Moroe expressed regret over the killings and conveyed his government’s condolences to the families of the victims. He said an inquest had been launched to investigate the xenophobic attacks and identify lasting solutions.

    “Our government will continue to be committed to the good relationship with Nigeria,” Moroe said. “On behalf of the government of South Africa, we express our sincere condolences to the Nigerian government for this unfortunate incident.”

    Yet, that grisly history is about to repeat. Against the backdrop of Operation Dudula’s campaign, the anti-immigrant rhetoric escalates like wildfire, threatening to ignite classrooms as it has ignited clinics.

    From public officers to private citizens, many South Africans have lent legitimacy to the brewing xenophobic fervour. Some accuse migrants of turning Johannesburg into a “banana republic.” Others blame them for medicine shortages, crime surges, and even the instability of the state itself.

    Evidently, their words are tinder, Dudula simply strikes the match.

    Culprits must be arrested, prosecuted – Dabiri-Erewa

    In an exclusive chat with The Nation, the Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, assured that all hands were on deck to resolve the crisis.

    Dabiri-Erewa declared the imperative for immediate intervention, and urged the African Union (AU) to intervene in the renewed xenophobic attacks on some Africans – including Nigeria – by South Africans seeking to prevent them from accessing medical care.

    She said that the renewed attacks of Africans in South Africa have been confirmed in one or two viral videos.

    “This is an issue that the AU has to strongly take up.  The attack is targeted at Africans not just Nigerians. Though, President Ramaphosa has spoken strongly against this, the AU has to intervene urgently,” she said.

    Meanwhile, she said that the Nigerian High Commission in South Africa has appealed to Nigerians to be calm and not take laws into their hands while “we urge South Africa government to apprehend and prosecute those found culpable and citizens openly seen carrying out these xenophobic attacks.

    Dabiri-Erewa recalled that both Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria and South Africa are working on finalising the early warning signal mechanism which is aimed at protecting Nigerians in South Africa from any form of attacks.

    Ghosts of Johannesburg

    There is no gainsaying that Johannesburg wears two faces. To some, it is the city of gold, a metropolis brimming with opportunities. To others, like Muyiwa, it is a haunted tract, where every corner conceals knife-like memories.

    Until she relocated to Canada, Muyiwa dreaded something as mundane as a harmless stroll through the street. There was the possibility of being mauled to death by an irate mob, just like her Zimbabwean and Malawian friends who got butchered by neighbours laughing maniacally as they swung.

    Their individual experiences depict the collective fate of many: Obi’s estrangement from his wife, Shoile’s torched auto dealership,  Muyiwa’s PTSD, and their collective dread of suffering a fatal death.

    Together, they present a composite portrait of Nigerians living in South Africa.

    Like ill fated travelers, forced on exile within an exile, each migrant lives with the fear of being attacked. Those who are yet to embrace the trauma of living in a hostile community, startle to the surge of irate mobs shoving pregnant women and nursing mothers cradling newborns out of the hospital corridors on to the sidewalks.

    For many migrants, the realism is jarring: they either return to Nigeria and a life of struggle, or remain in South Africa to brave hatred and the possibility of a bitter death. For anyone, either choice is a wound.

  • Xenophobia: Why attacks won’t stop

    There has been an understandably huge uproar in the past two months over xenophobic attacks against migrant Africans who moved into South Africa in search of economic opportunities and a better life for their families. These attacks began in 2007, nearly 13 years after South Africa freed herself from White minority rule under the then apartheid regime.

    It is now estimated that about 500 incidents of xenophobic attacks occurred in the country between 1994 and 2018. Several people have been injured while over a hundred persons have been killed in cold blood by marauding men wielding axes, machete, and iron rods. The shops of migrant Africans have also been vandalized or looted and/or set ablaze in the course of mayhem.

    Xenophobic attacks in South Africa have generated wide ranging responses in the form of condemnation of the South African Government for failure to protect the lives and property of migrants in their country. African countries whose citizens have been targets, the African Union, as well as the international community have all also expressed dismay at the sporadic xenophobic attacks in a country seen by all as a beacon of hope for the rest of the continent.

    The carnage has prompted countries whose citizens have been affected to take retaliatory action against South Africa-owned companies as in Nigeria. But the questions that ought to be uppermost in the minds of migrants including governments of the countries in Africa are: Will xenophobic attacks targeted against migrants African in South Africa ever end?; Is the South African government capable and/or willing to prevent future xenophobic attacks spearheaded by her citizens against migrant Africans, and, how should migrant Africans in South Africa who are still likely to be target of xenophobic attacks in the foreseeable future respond?

    It is my belief that the xenophobic attacks which began 13 years after South Africa’s independence marked the beginning of the country’s second liberation war while the first of the liberation wars was fought to rid the country of White minority rule. I envisage that the third liberation war will be fought over land.

    The conditions under which black South Africans have been living to-date can simply be described as pitiable. Pitiable is indeed an understatement because millions of them still live in shacks built with woods or corrugated iron sheets etc. in the countryside years after political independence. What the visitors to the country see in big cities like Johannesburg or Cape Town or Pretoria give little information about blacks in the entire country. Of course these beautiful cities contain slums where black South Africans live and which also harbour large numbers of migrants from the rest of the continent. The policy of the apartheid regime impoverished black South Africans. The black Africans have virtually been dispossessed of their ancestral land which is one of the major reasons for their impoverishment. This is discernable as you travel by road through the country.

    Millions of black South Africans are today landless while a tiny minority of White settlers who are now bona fide citizens are still holding on tenaciously to the ancestral land of the forefathers’ of blacks. Land was forcibly acquired by White settlers during the colonial era. And we all well-nigh know that Africans have great attachment to ancestral land.

    There is already agitation being spearheaded by a renegade faction of the ANC for something to be done to get black South Africans to re-possess their ancestral land though some sort of land reform initiative such as buying off land and re-distributing it to black South Africans. This demand is in the front burner of President of the Republic, Cyril Ramaphosa. He knows that the black South Africans cannot, and have not been enjoying and will not enjoy the benefits of political independence unless his fellow citizens (black Africans) can access land.

    Today, vast numbers of black South Africans still perceive themselves as people still living in the wilderness and that something must be done to remedy the situation. South Africa is therefore sitting on gun powder which will sooner or later explode if nothing is done. Land was the issue in Zimbabwe which eventually exploded under Robert Mugabe. The explosion which I foresee, will take place and it will be South Africa’s third war of liberation unless something is done on the land matter very quickly.

    I perceive the current xenophobic attacks as being symptomatic of the second of South Africa’s liberation wars.  The reasons for the foregoing assertion are not farfetched and can be attributed to a number of factors/issues. Firstly, the locales are unable to compete against migrant Africans who have more or less taken over the informal sector of the country’s economy. Migrant Africans are the ones owning and running small shops, selling goods which include homes movies, computer accessories, doing all sorts and making good money while black South Africans who are unable to compete feel/believe that they have been left behind in their country.

    To black South Africans, these migrants who arrived a short while ago are harnessing the opportunities around them which they have been unable to do and they are prospering, making huge amounts of money. This they cannot understand. They are inclined to ask how these migrants are achieving these results.  Of course they have become aggrieved and as human beings are mistakenly inclined to lay the blame of their misfortune/poverty on the doorstep of the prosperous migrants in their midst.

    The poor black South Africans are intellectually incapable of blaming their government for bad state policies that might be accounting for their plight. Nor would they blame themselves for lacking the entrepreneurial drive/spirit of migrants. And so it is always easy for black South Africans to scapegoat those near them who seem to be denying them the opportunity to make it. This sort of behavior is manifested in several other contexts around the world and the South African blacks are no exception in respect to their reaction to the migrants in their country.

    The second source of grouse among black South Africans is that they see/know that migrants are not playing by the laws of South Africa in their drive to make money in a frontier economy with lots of opportunities to be tapped. The activities of migrants include that of peddling hard drugs in townships and poaching girls/women for sexual gratification and sex work etc. There are anecdotal reports that Nigerians and Tanzanians are the major players in these activities, – drug trafficking, sexual gratification, and prostitution.

    The third grouse is over what seems to be the neurotic sexual drive of Nigerian men in particular for South African girls, women, and housewives which has incurred the wrath of black South African men. While some Nigerians are respectably married to South African girls/women, it seems than many others in the lower end of the socio-economic ladder who marry their girls/women do so for instrumental reasons. They marry or go out with them to be able to use the girls/women as mules for trafficking hard drugs or in order to acquire South African citizenship when they might already have their wives/children back home in Nigeria.

    All of these sorts of behaviours cast Nigerians/migrants as dubious people and they also fuel anger towards foreigners. It is therefore not surprising that the xenophobic violent and vicious attacks are led by male folks in South Africa. They can be seen in photos published in national and international newspapers as well as in the social media in the forefront of xenophobic attacks, carrying dangerous items like axes, cutlasses cudgels, iron rods to attack Nigerians and other migrants in person including their businesses/premises.

    Fourthly, South Africans also see migrants who are drug peddlers and traffickers and making money through dubious means as despicable and undesirable and are tempted to ask: Why on earth should their authorities allow these people to turn their country upside down? Why should they be allowed to use money to poach our girls/women and/or to deploy them to do sex work with all the risks (HIV/AIDS)? Why are they using our country for instrumental reasons? All of the above constitute an affront to right thinking black South Africans which they can no longer take.

    The Government of South Africa can do very little to protect migrants and is not also likely compensate victims of xenophobic attacks against fellow Africans.  Migrants and the government of their respective countries are likely to continue to shed crocodile tears indefinitely because impoverished black South Africans will continue to unleash xenophobic attacks against migrants who are believed to undermining their well-being.

    And so my advice to Nigerian migrants in particular and others from the rest of Africa in South Africa, – To your tent O Israel!!!

    • Professor Erinosho is formerly executive secretary, Social Science Academy of Nigeria, Abuja.

  • Xenophobia and Onyema’s patriotism

    Sir: Long before the news of xenophobic attacks on Nigerians living in South Africa became public knowledge, the much people knew about Allen Onyema is the fact that he is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of one of Nigeria’s leading private airline companies, Air Peace.

    Typical of most private business operators, we thought all that mattered to people him was simply how to maximise profit, expand his business frontiers and put in place necessary measures that would keep his business safe and healthy in a peculiarly challenging business environment like ours. But we were wrong.

    But by choosing to be exemplary even without being prompted or coerced, Onyeama has indeed altered the erroneous perception that business people suddenly become contemplative when discussing philanthropy, and that they only put their money into ventures that would advance their business interests. Onyema’s action has to a large extent put a lie to that assertion.

    Same way most Nigerians were outrightly enraged and distraught by what many have described as premeditated, sustained, unprovoked and malicious attacks on innocent Nigerians living in South Africa by some local criminals who serially launched attacks on black foreigners for some senseless reasons, so was Onyema.

    But unlike others, he didn’t just lament, wail and condemn the inhuman and degrading treatment that his fellow countrymen were being subjected to. He thought of how to possibly assist in providing succour to these Nigerians who have suffered both human and material losses in the madness that occurred in the rainbow nation. Truly, it takes a man who has abundant love in his bosom to express real love to others.

    Instead of turning a blind eye or feel unperturbed by the unfortunate experiences of our brothers and sisters in South Africa, and possibly become critical of government and accuse it of being insensitive to the plight of its citizens in foreign lands, he volunteered to deploy a B777 air craft belonging to his company, Air Peace, to air lift all stranded Nigerians in South Africa who are willing to return home free of charge!

    This is indeed a rare act of patriotism and humanity that should be acknowledged and celebrated by all. He knew it wasn’t his responsibility as a citizen to coordinate efforts to evacuate stranded Nigerians in South Africa, but the humanity in him took a better part of his mind the moment he ruminated over the issue. He didn’t put the tribe, religion, political or ideological leanings of these stranded Nigerians into consideration before he offered to help them out of the precarious situation they were in. He chose to look beyond those divisive and narrow considerations that often guide our conducts in this part of the world.

    Onyema’s patriotic gesture quite resonates with Nigerians who are genuinely committed to building a country where love, unity, peace and social justice will reign supreme. We must be deliberate in our resolve to strengthen the bond of unity that holds us together. For us to realize our national aspirations and other strategic goals, it is important that we dwell more on those things than join us and focus less on those that divide us. This is simply the clear message in Allen Onyema’s rare act of human kindness.

    Ultimately, like Onyema has demonstrated, we need not find ourselves in public offices or be extremely wealthy before we can contribute our quota towards national development. The little acts of patriotism and kindness we do unnoticed are the bricks we need to build a rock-solid, united, indivisible and great nation that we always talk about.

    • Abdullahi Yunusa, Lugbe, Abuja.

  • Xenophobia: The ultimate culprits

    Just as you reserve the right to walk a stranger out of your house, you reserve the right to demand the exit of foreigners from your country. It is the prerogative of the South Africans to dictate who can or cannot be allowed residence in their country. That the Nigerian government helped them in their struggle against Apartheid does not, in any way, invalidate that right. So, in demanding that Nigerians leave their country, the South Africans have done nothing wrong.

    The inundation of different countries of the world by Nigerians, as economic refugees, is a direct consequence of the irresponsible and anti-human policies of a series of kleptomanias, masquerading as leaders that ruled Nigeria over the years. Their total destruction of the Nigerian economy triggered the mass-exodus of Nigerians to different countries of the world, where they are resented, and sometimes, hated, and periodically attacked, like in South Africa.  So, as we fret about the attacks on our compatriots and the looting and torching of their businesses in South Africa, we have to realize that, by extension, the real culprits for these are the irresponsible, grasping and corrupt rulers that ran aground the Nigerian economy.

    Usually, the resentment, anger and disgruntlement of the general public are readily directed at the immigrant community. The immigrants are easy targets for scape-goat; they are blamed for the host country’s woes: unemployment, economic downturn, crime, etc. Not surprisingly, the South Africans are blaming Nigerians for taking their jobs, and being drug dealers, thieves, fraudsters, etc., – although many South Africans are involved in the same illicit businesses. The killing of Nigerians and the looting and burning down of their businesses and properties by South African mobs have reached horrifying extremes. It is estimated that about 150 Nigerians have been killed and Nigerian businesses and property worth millions of dollars destroyed in these periodic xenophobic attacks on Nigerians. Over all, the South African government has not demonstrated any commitment to the protection of Nigerian lives and property, or to bring the attackers to book.

    South Africa has a history that gloried in violence. Consequently, it is a very violent country. The taking over of the breathtakingly beautiful country and the subjugation of the Black owners of the land by Dutch settlers demanded justification and glorification of gratuitous murderousness and unspeakable brutality. Later, as Blacks South Africans rose in revolt against White supremacist tyranny, they also celebrated bloodcurdling violence, including “neck lacing” – the hanging of a petrol-socked tire over the neck and shoulder of alleged Black agent, spy or informant of the White Apartheid government and setting him ablaze. As a testament to the country’s culture of violence, some notable Black South African leaders openly endorsed “neck lacing” as legitimate punishment for suspected Black spies of the Apartheid regime. With no institutional racism to fight and no quisling to neck lace, they turned their violence and brutality on Nigerians, and other African immigrants.

    They have reasons to resent and hate Nigerians in their country. For centuries, they became accustomed to Whites being successful and in control. It is new-fangled, and thus, unacceptable to them to see successful and wealthy Nigerians in their midst. It is a sentiment summed up in the notice issued by the South African owners/taxi association against African immigrants, “These people drive expensive cars, and they have churches, businesses in every street of South Africa. They have everything that we as citizens don’t have.” In addition, they are irked by the boastfulness, general lawlessness and conspicuous consumption of Nigerians. Nigerians are also big spenders, and, understandably, women snatchers. One of their stated gripes against Nigerians is that they (Nigerians) “take our women”.

    As expected, most of the 800, 000 Nigerians resident in South Africa are unwilling to return to Nigeria, at least, in the short-run. Even, with the call on them to return home by the Nigerian government and the provision of free air fare by Air Peace, only a little more than 600 of them have, thus far, indicated interest to return. With the prevailing anti-Nigerian sentiment not abating in that very violent country, it is very likely that periodic attacks on Nigerians will continue. The blaming of national problems that are glaring indicators of failure of governance on the immigrants must be salutary to the government of Cyril Ramaphosa. Not surprisingly, the government of Ramaphosa has not only failed to protect Nigerians, but has, on some occasions, stoked the anti-Nigerian sentiment.

    The Nigerian government has very limited options in dealing with this international dilemma.  Reprisal actions on South Africans and their business interests in Nigeria are not viable options. Very few South Africans live in Nigeria. Secondly, attacks on South African businesses in Nigeria will be most disadvantageous for Nigerians. They are major employers of labour; attacks on them will worsen our already terrifying unemployment problems. It will also undermine Nigeria’s credibility as a secure foreign investment destination; it will dissuade prospective foreign investors from investing in Nigeria.

    It is bad leadership that destroyed the economy of our country, and sent Nigerians swarming into different countries of the world as economic refugees. In these countries they sojourn to escape the economic miseries in their home country, they are resented, and, as in South Africa, sometimes, hated and murdered. So, by extension, the blame for the attacks on Nigerians in South Africa rests squarely on the series of amoral and rapacious rulers that reduced Nigeria to economic boondocks.

    • Ezukanma writes from Lagos.

  • Xenophobia and parable of the unsung puppy

    The title of the last book by Chinua Achebe, “There was a Country” aptly and sadly describe contemporary events in Nigeria, which has unfortunately become, in the words of another Nigerian icon of the Arts, Hubert Ogunde, “a kicking ball of humanity”.

    Yet in my native Ilaje-Yoruba tribe, it is said “the knowledge of  the fact that there is a caring owner, is the reason even an unsung stray puppy would not be struck by neighbours”. Conversely, when the Nigerian child, not even a dog, is struck anyhow and each time by neighbours, it sends a clear message of the level of respect is accorded the Nigerian nation.

    Even those of us, in the generation of Achebe’s children, can authoritatively assert that we were born into and saw a country which was, comparatively, difficult to toss around even by world powers. It was beyond imagination that any country in Africa would toss light seeking the red eyes of the Olumoko, as the Yoruba would say.

    The memorable speech of the Nigerian Head of State, Murtala Mohammed, at an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of African Unity in Addis Ababa, in1976, aptly described the place of Nigeria, once upon a time. Reacting to the letter from American President General Ford, which tended to dictate the position of African countries on the liberation struggle of Angola, the Nigerian Head of State, declared at the meeting and said inter alia:  “Mr. chairman, when I contemplate the evils of apartheid, my heart bleeds and I am sure the heart of every true blooded African bleeds. .Rather than join hands with the forces fighting for self- determination and against racism and apartheid, the United States policy makers clearly decided that it was in the best interests of their country to maintain white supremacy and minority regimes in Africa…Africa has come of age. It’s no longer under the orbit of any extra continental power.

    It should no longer take orders from any country, however powerful. The fortunes of Africa are in our hands to make or to mar. For too long have we been kicked around: for too long have we been treated like adolescents who cannot discern their interests and act accordingly… The time has come when we should make it clear that we can decide for ourselves…”

    Read Also: Xenophobia: First batch of 320 to arrive Lagos on Wednesday

    Every Nigerian government, from independence, made the liberation of Southern Africa, from apartheid and white supremacists rules, not just the corner stone of our foreign policy, our internal politics, economy and socialisation processes, were geared towards the awareness that we were never truly independent so long as any part of Africa was under colonialism or white minority rule.

    Murtala’s successor, Obasanjo, went further by, among others, frontally declaring support for the Soviet-inspired MPLA in the Angola struggle, which was against American interest, in the bipolar politics of the era. The nationalisation of British interest and assets in the British Petroleum and Barclays Bank, now Union Bank, were some of the drastic economic diplomatic measures, by the Obasanjo military regime, in addition to intensified support for the ANC struggle in South Africa in terms of aids and training in diplomacy and armed struggles. Nigeria championed the boycott of all sporting events in which South Africa was allowed to participate, effectively ostracizing the apartheid regime in all such international events. Far flung, territorially, from the theatre of the liberation war, the importance and contribution of Nigeria earned her the distinguished membership of the Frontline States, comprising the Southern African countries of Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

    Politicians, students, artistes, clergymen, statesmen and all, have never been as united as Nigerians were for freedom of South Africa. Sonny Okosuns sang ‘Fire in Soweto burning all my people” and demanded “Who owns the land”. Legendary Fela Anikulapo Kuti, in “Sorrow Tears and Blood”, sarcastically taunted the Nigerian military, querying soldiers’ invasion of his house. He said “dey just dey yab for nothing”, rather than vent their spleen on “Namibia and South Africa”.

    I remember, the visit to the University of Ife, in 1982, by the Nigerian Representative in the UN, Alhaji Maitama Sule. His emotion-laden speech about the sufferings of the blacks in South Africa and the need to end it immediately drew uncontrollable tears from the elder statesman and his thousands of audience at the Oduduwa Hall. Workers, youths and students were mobilised, under different organisations, contributing money and materials, out of their meagre possessions, for the liberation struggle.

    Ironically and most unfortunately, hateful behaviours towards citizens of Nigeria and other African countries became evident, almost soon after South Africa’s first non-racial election in April 1994 and Nelson Mandela’s assumption of office as first black President in May of that year. The South Africans only seemed to be waiting for the exit of legendary Mandela, as President in 1997, as xenophobic violence erupted in year 2000.

    The point being made is that Nigeria which, even as a toddler nation, was the toast of the world in international peace-keeping and enforcing operations, which initiated and largely funded ECOMOG as the West African strike force, which was a prominent member of the Non-Aligned Movement and championed the world Medium Power nations through Professor Bolaji Akinyemi as fabulous foreign minister, which demanded, as of right, a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, with concomitant veto powers, which contested the position of the UN Secretary General with Boutrous Ghali and made proud by Anyaoku at the head of the Commonwealth, is today being dictated to and loathed by even hapless neighbouring states. Only few of us may remember that the Nigerian Police received Gold Medal as it was adjudged, by the UN, as the most effective and disciplined force during the mop up operations towards Namibian Independence in 1990.

    Nigeria might not be a world super power, or a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council, but time there was, when it truly was the giant of Africa and in the West African sub region, the de facto super power. Those truly were times when Nigerians and our green passports commanded respect and no nation anywhere, least other Africans, particularly our dependent neighbours, would dare molest Nigerians.

    Disrespect for us, world over, came about when we allowed every aspect of our social existence polluted by the impunity of politics of religion, ethnicity and North/South divides. As unassuming as President Shagari appeared, he dealt decisively with Maitatsine and nipped the first festering insurgency on our soil. When militancy rose in the Niger Delta, in the late 1990s, propelled by clearly defined objective of fiscal federalism, it was dealt with, albeit yet inconclusively, by Presidents Obasanjo and Umar Yar’Adua, respectively, by a combined strategy of stick and carrot. When the north slipped into Boko Haram, galvanised by a labyrinth of social and economic deprivations, dressed in religious garb, required military efforts, by President Jonathan, as Commander-in-Chief, were frustrated even by political leaders of the Boko Haram frontline states. Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno, in 2014, took to CNN to run his mouth against the President, Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa claimed that war on Boko Haram was meant to rubbish the demographic advantage of the North in elections, a position echoed by Muhammadu Buhari.

    As Boko Haram became so hydra headed, the image of Nigeria being a serious military power was gradually being rubbished. The once giant, developed the feet of clay and being exasperated, now seeks strength from its Lilliputian envious neighbours and their France master, to defend our internal sovereignty and territorial integrity. The myth of Buhari, as an expected messianic strong leader, was shredded when, under his watch, senseless killings, by Boko Haram, continued unabated with added audacity of attacking military formations and now coupled with mindless genocidal wars, unleashed on Nigerians by common herdsmen, who have virtually made nonsense of our security forces. The interpretations and effects of these killings are that lives of Nigerians mean little to the government and some marauding, indulgent and illegally armed criminals, citizens and aliens alike. Consequent disrespect and abuse by foreigners are a forgone conclusion.

    Truth be told, most Nigerians in the diaspora are, same with their compatriots at home, living lives of slaves, stripped of all honour. While in Europe and America, we are tolerated as our descent to compulsive menial jobs oils the machinery of their economy, in the African states, any form of gainful employment, including such menial jobs and trading activities, are luxuries which petulant Nigerians have seized with characteristic braggadocio. Starved and deprived, the oppressed natives and immigrant distraught Nigerians, vent their mutual anger on one another, incapable of critical thinking that they are both of an economic kind. This will explain why some Nigerian youths would visit Shoprite facilities looting and destroying wares and merchandise of Nigerians, claiming retaliation against South Africa.

    Nigerians outside will re-earn respect when our home is in order through a governance model that works for our polyglot territorial space. Honour and respect will return to us in foreign land, when we come to the inevitable reality that a nation of over 350 tribes or tongues cannot be ruled by the wisdom of a human Leviathan, in a unitary state veiled in federalism. Our people will find less attraction for lesser endowed foreign nations when we adopt the political formula that made our God-given resources work for our prosperity and posterity in the mutually beneficial competitive governments of our finding fathers.

    Time is not our friend as the long ignored strident voice for true federalism, through restructuring, is evidently giving way for agitation for ethnic sovereignties. So long as banditry and killings ravage our land and our youths leave in droves, not minding slavery in the Middle East and death in the Mediterranean, so shall the rest of the world not give our people the honour due even to the proverbial unsung stray little dog.

  • Xenophobia: Apartheid by another name!

    SIR: Beginning from 2008, misguided South Africans have regularly taken to the streets to hack down their guests, make bonfires of their bodies before proceeding to loot their property. The excuse, as usual, is that African immigrants have pauperised South Africans by cornering available jobs. We hear some South Africans are angry that immigrants flaunt their newfound wealth to seduce South African girls!

    South Africans also accuse their guests of turning the former apartheid enclave into a drug hub and turning their youths into incurable drug addicts.  Related to this is the accusation that the illicit drug trade has pushed South Africa to the top of the world most violent countries ranking. Former South African president, Jacob Zuma, confirmed the suspicion of Africans when, after the 2015 xenophobic attacks, he called on African leaders to do more for their citizens. It was an indication that the patience of South Africans was running thin in the face of massive influx of immigrants. Since then, several top and not-too-top South African politicians have jumped into the fray by alluding to the fact that immigrants have become an albatross.

    There is no denying the fact that many Nigerians do very terrible things in the name of hustling. Mention it: drug peddling, cybercrime, armed robbery, drug-related killings etc. are some of the things some Nigerians jet out to do without minding the consequences to themselves or to the damage they do to the image of their fatherland which many of them gleefully refer to as a zoo.

    While law-abiding Nigerians are united in condemning these despicable acts of their compatriots, one would have thought there are laws in South Africa to put away deviants. Besides, rather than inciting criminals to go after the lives and property of their guests, South African politicians could have considered the mass expulsion option if they truly believe their guests have become a drain on the economy.

    After all, it was for similar reasons that Ghana expelled Nigerians in 1969. It was for similar reasons that Nigeria retaliated against Ghana in the early 1980’s.

    Africans are justified to show deep anger at the South Africans. Many Africans, especially those in the frontline states bore the brunt of the decades of bombings, social and economic dislocation and despoliation by the white minority government in South Africa and their backers in Western Europe and North America! It was the frontline states that served as home to many South Africans aside providing the liberation fighters ‘safe haven’ to plan and launch the attacks that eventually forced the hands of apartheid high priests.

    If truth be told, xenophobia is the new face of apartheid in South Africa. It is as sad as it is ironic that a people who suffered collective discrimination for more than three centuries based on skin colour could, so soon after independence, have any cause to justify discriminating against others. Ordinarily, Nigerians should have no business checking out to South Africa to suffer the new apartheid that has gripped the former apartheid enclave. It all boils down to getting Nigeria’s parlous economy out of the woods. But, turning round a criminally-plundered economy, like the one inherited from the larcenous Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2015, will not happen overnight.

    In fact, it is delusional to imagine that a turn-around will come without pains! Still, the latest xenophobic attacks, coming so early into the second term of the Buhari/Osinbajo administration, should be a challenge for a government that is decidedly committed to changing Nigeria for the better!

     

    • Abdulrazaq Magaji,

    Abuja.

  • Xenophobia: What are Nigeria’s legal options?

    The Federal Government is locking horns with the South African government over the latter’s refusal to pay compensation to victims of xenophobic attacks in Johannesburg. The Rainbow Nation says its constitution does not permit such payment. What options are open to Nigeria in seeking redress for its citizens? ADEBISI ONANUGA asks lawyers

    Last Tuesday, angry youths took to the streets in some parts of the country to protest the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other black immigrants in South Africa.

    Property worth about N500 million, including cars, shops and businesses, especially those thought to be owned by South Africans, were either looted or destroyed in the violence that followed.

    It was the first time youths would react violently to the attacks in South Africa. There were reported cases of violence and  attack on Shoprite outlets in Lekki, PEP outlets in Surulere, MTN facilities in Lagos and in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital and in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    A group of angry women, said to be relatives of those who fell victim to the attacks in South Africa, were said to have triggered the retaliatory attack in Lagos when they entered Shoprite at Lekki and began upturning shelves.

    The protests followed the latest wave of violence in South Africa against African immigrants and foreign-owned businesses.

    Last week, angry mobs in the Rainbow Nation looted, burned and vandalised shops, properties and vehicles owned by non-white immigrants.

    At least 10 people lost their lives, including two immigrants, while at least 189 were arrested. The immigrant population in the country was 4,036,696 last year.

    A June 28 United Nations (UN) report stated that there are only 27,326 Nigerian immigrants in the southern African country of 57.73 million.

    Although many Nigerians are professionals, including doctors, nurses, lecturers, etc,  majority of them are business people who have built their businesses from scratch. Some of this category of Nigerians are often accused of drug dealing and other crimes or taking their hosts’ women and usually bear the brunt of xenophobic attacks.

    Observers have noted that similar riots took place in Johannesburg earlier this year. They described it as deliberate and part of a larger hostility towards Africans. Somalis, Zimbabweans and Mozambicans have also been victims of xenophobic attacks in South Africa over the years.

    Attacks on foreign-owned shops have become regular occurrences that many have attributed to frustration, given the country’s high unemployment rate.

    For instance, a major violence occurred in Durban in April when foreign nationals were attacked and displaced in five locations around the city..

    Another attack on August 7 led to a confrontation between the police and inner-city traders, who the South African government stated were foreign nationals.

    Xenophobic violence has thus become a regular feature of South Africa’s political landscape and during such violent attacks, people from other African countries, including Nigerians, have been regularly attacked, killed and their means of livelihood destroyed. As at last count, over 120 Nigerians are believed to have been killed between 2016 and this year.

    Many observers have described the Johannesburg attacks as a huge blow for African countries that fought to liberate South Africa from apartheid.

    Condemnations all the way

    Both the Federal and the Lagos State governments called for restraint by the protesters.

    In Abuja, President Muhammadu Buhari dispatched a delegation to South Africa to meet with its President Cyril Ramaphosa while Vice President Yemi Osinbajo condemned the killing of Nigerians, describing it as “unacceptable and unconscionable”.

    Also, Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyema summoned the South African High Commissioner and demanded a halt to the killing of Nigerians and attacks on their businesses.

    Other political leaders in the country have also called for an end to the attacks.

    Senate President Ahmad Lawan, in a statement last week, said Nigeria has had enough of its citizens being targets of these attacks and would no longer tolerate hate crimes in any form against its citizens who are doing legitimate businesses in South Africa.

    Lawan added: “The enormous contributions of Nigeria to this historic struggle are underscored by its recognition as a frontline state in the prolonged confrontation against the powerful racist regime that had held generations of Southern Africans in bondage and subhuman conditions.

    ”It is, therefore, an unacceptable irony that a section of South Africans would so soon after now, choose other Africans in their country as the targets of mindless violent attacks over frustrations for which the innocent victims have no control.”

    Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila said the House might reconvene to discuss the matter.

    Ramaphosa also condemned the Monday night violence in his country, saying that attacks on foreigners are “totally unacceptable” and “something completely against the ethos that we as South Africans espouse.”

    The African Union Commission also condemned the violence. Its Chairman, Moussa Faki Mahamat, said the organisation supported South African’s efforts to restore law and order.

    Boycott of South Africa events

    The founder and chairman of Zenith Bank, Mr Jim Ovia, pulled out of the ongoing 2019 World Economic Forum (WEF) Africa taking place in Cape Town, South Africa following the attacks.

    Ovia’s withdrawal from the WEF Africa was sequel to Nigerian government’s withdrawal from the event.

    A presidential adviser, Bashir Ahmad, announced Nigeria’s boycott on Twitter. He said: “Nigerian government has boycotted the World Economic Forum being held in Cape Town, South Africa,” noting that some individuals would attend independently.

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who was billed to attend the annual summit of leaders and business figures, also cancelled his trip.

    Songstress, Tiwa Savage also pulled out of  a music festival organised by DSTV billed to take place in South Africa this month.

    Comedian Bright Okpocha aka Basketmouth also cancelled his appearance at the upcoming Comic Choice Awards in South Africa.

    In an Instagram post on his page @basketmouth, he wrote, “I am not sure how and when we got here.

    “I won’t be attending the Comic Choice Awards this weekend in South Africa as scheduled.”

    Star musician Burna Boy, also vowed to never set foot in the country again.

    He said: “I have not set foot in SA since 2017. And I will not ever go to South Africa again for any reason until the South African government wakes the f**k up and performs a miracle because I don’t know how they can even possibly fix this.”

     Demand for compensation for victims

    The Federal Government last week demanded an end to the killing and called for compensation for the victims

    Onyeama, at a joint briefing with the South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Bobby Moroe, listed a proposal that includes security collaboration between both countries.

    He, however, stated that issues of compensation for victims of xenophobic attack must first be addressed.

    “In the first place, we must address the issue of compensation. There has to be accountability and there has to be responsibility for compensating all those Nigerians that have suffered loss and we are going to absolutely push forward,” Onyeama said.

    The Federal Government and the House of Representatives’ insistence on compensation to Nigerians, was regardless of hints by Pretoria that it has no intention of paying.

    Onyeama declared that Nigeria will challenge South Africa’s claims that its laws do not provide for such compensation.

    Gbajabiamila, after an emergency session by the House of Representatives, said the Green Chamber had heard the “the cries of our citizens.

    ”Let no one be left in any doubt, we will seek and we will obtain by whatever means available, due restoration and recompense for all that has been lost in this latest conflagration and all the ones that have come before’’.

    Why Nigeria is insisting on compensation

    According to Onyeama compensation “is important despite the position of the South African government that there is no provision for that by their own laws.

    “They will definitely be made to resort to other insurance companies or other private arrangements for that,” he told reporters after a meeting with the chairman of the Senate Committee on Diaspora, Senator Ajibola Bashiru.

    Nevertheless, Onyeama noted that Nigeria would not severe relations with South Africa on the matter.

    “The options that are being considered are weighty enough to ensure that the government of South Africa is alive to its responsibility on the rule of law, but not in any way relating to severance of ties,” he said.

    What are Nigeria’s legal options against South Africa?

    No doubt, xenophobic violence undermines the rule of law and a state that is complicit in undermining the rule of law is a danger to itself.

    How best can the Federal Government handle the crisis? What legal options or otherwise are open for Nigeria to explore to get compensation for victims especially in view of South African’s rejection of demand for compensation of the victims?

    Senior lawyers offer suggestions on how government can redress the situation.

    Document killings and losses of victims

    Sylva Ogwemoh (SAN) said the killing of Nigerians living in South Africa is barbaric and most unfortunate and must be condemned by all right-thinking persons.

    He regretted that  government did not do enough when these killings started a few years ago. Ogwemoh noted that the killings started on a low scale and now it has spread to several cities in South Africa.

    “One of the responsibilities of a government and indeed a foreign high commission in any country is the protection of the country’s citizens in a country of its operations. Therefore, the life of a single Nigerian in any foreign country is important and whenever anything is done by another country that affects the life of a Nigerian in that country, our high commission and indeed our government must rise up and ensure that whatever led to the killing of that Nigerian is addressed and where possible sanctions are imposed through the court system or by diplomatic means.

    “In the present situation where the South African Government has rejected the request for compensation, the Nigerian Government should clearly document the killings and the losses incurred by its citizens in South Africa and approach the court in South Africa for a redress.

    “I recall the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights has adequate provisions for the protection of the rights of African citizens.

    “This could be a test case in determining the functionality or otherwise of the Judiciary in South Africa in the protection of the rights of citizens”, he said.

    ‘Lodge complaint at International Criminal Court’

    Law lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, Wahab Shittu described xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa as “savagery, brutish, callous and inhuman atrocity of the worst order”.

    He noted that Nigeria reacted appropriately by recalling Nigeria’s Ambassador to South Africa and withdrawing from the ongoing economic forum in South Africa.

    He urged the Federal Government to go even further.

    Shittu said: “Firstly, we need to address a world press conference to register our displeasure at the savagery. We need to formally lodge a criminal complaint at the International Criminal Court of Justice and demand justice and compensation for the victims.

    “The South African authorities must be made to apologise, assure of the safety of Nigerians and undertake to pay compensation and prosecute those involved in these serial atrocities.

    “We need to sensitise the African Union, the Commonwealth, United Nations and the international community on the atrocities going on in South Africa and the urgency of sanctions against South Africa.”

    He added: ”Nigeria must examine all options to get justice for Nigeria and Nigerians for this savagery and man’s inhumanity to man.”

    ‘Approach African Court on Human and Peoples Right’

    For Abayomi Omoyinmi, a member of Ogun State Judicial Service Commission, South Africa should be sued at the African Court on Human and Peoples Right in Arusha, Tanzania.

    “The Federal Government should proceed to the African Court on Human and Peoples Right  to enforce the fundamental rights and freedoms of Nigerians affected by anti-Nigerians violence since Nigeria is a signatory to the charter of 1983”.

    Omoyinmi further argued: “It is an elementary principle under the international law that any country is entitled to protect its citizens when injured by any act/s contrary to international law committed and or contravene by another country.

    “This is time to ensure that the South Africa and its subjects observe and respect the rules of international law. There has to be protection from the court for Nigerians in this respect against gross abuse of international human right norms.

    “The indiscriminate arrest and violation of the fundamental rights and freedom of Nigerians in South Africa is a clear violation of Article 55(c) of the United Nations Charter and other international human rights.”

    ‘Nigeria may activate UN system to impose sanctions on South Africa’

    Activist-lawyer, Emeka Nwadioke, maintained that international law prohibits discrimination based on race, colour, sex (including sexual orientation), language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

    He said national governments have an obligation under international law especially the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) to protect all persons from racial discrimination.

    According to him, South Africa has failed to meet its international obligations by these festering attacks and the seeming impunity which has attended same.

    Nwadioke argued: “It is equally instructive that President Cyril Ramaphosa  was cited during campaigns for making racially induced remarks against migrants. Now that the chickens have come home to roost, he has a unique moral burden to redress this malaise.

    “If he fails in this task, given his seeming lack of political will to address the crises, Nigeria may initiate sundry measures including but not limited to diplomatic, informational, military and economic actions to compel South Africa to abide by its international obligations”, he advised.

    Said Nwadioke: “The least that is expected of South Africa is to make adequate reparations to victims of this reckless and hate-induced violence, and ensure that the perpetrators are speedily brought to justice to serve as a deterrent to others. Otherwise, Nigeria may recall its ambassador to South Africa, expel South Africa’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, impose economic sanctions on South Africa or as a last resort declare the violence as an ‘act of aggression’ or ‘act of war’ for the purpose of levying military action to protect its citizens.

    “It may also activate the United Nations system towards imposing sanctions on South Africa as well as litigate the matter using the international judicial framework. Affected persons may also bring petitions before regional forums to seek redress for their injuries”, he stated.

  • Xenophobia and Africa’s entrepreneurial spirit

    I arrived South Africa on the 16th of July 2002; it was winter, the thick of it. I was brutally shocked by the intensity of the cold. But I came with a warm spirit. I was focused.

    My eye was on one thing alone. I wanted to be an entrepreneur; to add value to humanity, to create goods and services, to make a positive impact on the economic landscape of my host country and within Africa.

    The story of my sojourn to the rainbow nation reflects the story of migration of many of my compatriots and other Africans in South Africa.

    When I left Nigeria, I was only armed with basic high school education and skills acquired from my mentorship programme as a trader. For a Nigerian, that was more than enough “survival-tool-box”.

    It was up to me to add into the tool box; determination, resilience, creativity and emotional intelligence for me to navigate the reality of the South African socioeconomic terrain.

    As I soldiered on, I realised, like any other non-citizen that the political liberation of our host country was not automatic economic freedom.

    The onus was on me to confront an economic system stiffed in structured sectors and industries, white-controlled capital and infrastructures. I stumbled, fumbled, staggered and fell severally, yet, I refused to remain on the ground.

    Today, I have gained some financial stability. But it did not come to me because it was easy. I have three businesses and I have wonderful South Africans who work in those businesses, some have worked with me for as long as the businesses have started.

    Some of my shops are entirely in the hands of South Africans; my security outfit is managed by South Africans who decide what happen in the company’s operations. I am currently mentoring a young South African; using the same principle from my mentorship programme in Nigeria. I have spiced it with some degree of formality and, at 22 years of age, he runs his own IT firm from under my space.

    I tell my story to illustrate that the narratives which seek to vilify all foreigners ignore the fact that South Africa has the potential to be the melting pot for entrepreneurial creativity, ingenuity and collaboration by Africans.

    South Africa is multi-racial, hence, it is called the Rainbow Nation. It has the best of infrastructures on the continent and prides in a constitutional democracy, one of the best in the world.

    The epitaph, Rainbow Nation, denotes more than different pigmentation, it is supposed to be a reflection of diversity and ingenuity, therefore, the creativity from across the borders would add to the beauty and brightness of South Africa at the end of the day, if, the host country can tap into the positives brought by those from other countries.

    As a foreigner living in South Africa and a Nigerian in particular, I won’t keep quiet over this recent Afro-phobic attacks going on in parts of South Africa. I have the moral ground to speak because I have added value to South Africa: I boldly state that I have never indulged in any form of criminal activity to make money. Besides, I am married to a South African and her family has become mine.

    I am not the only foreigner or Nigerian with this kind of record. Crime is crime no matter who commits it. There is no crime that is only committed by only foreigners. Criminals are in every country and they should not be tagged exclusively as foreigners.

    When we call criminals foreigners we are saying that every foreigner is automatically criminal. Painting everyone with the same brush is dangerous and the ripple effect is what we are experiencing; where businesses of genuine entrepreneurs are destroyed because they are foreigners on account of wrong narrative which been allowed to gained currency, people who have something to offer will be forced to recline.

    It is true that there are foreigners whose activities are conducted in unpleasant and illegal ways. On the flip side, it is impossible for people from other nations to come to another nation to commit crime without aid from citizens.

    But intellectual laziness and populist stance have underscored the narrative which demonizes foreigners and, Nigerians in particular. Perhaps, we need to remember not to forget that Nigeria and South Africa account for almost one-third of the Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and, if businesses developed by entrepreneurs like me, and against the background of the challenges to grow small businesses; it would directly compromise the targets of the current clamor for intra-African trade.

    Instead of hasty generalisation and blanket labeling of small business owners from other countries, South Africa should put in place more pragmatic methods to deal with criminality. South Africa is a great country with tremendous potentials for development but the youths need to be better capacitated; they should be made to explore entrepreneurship and boost the rate of employment in the country.

    South African citizens have better opportunity to compete with foreigners and to even overtake them. The younger people should be motivated to imbibe the passion and determination to start their own businesses. The presence of foreigners like me who came with almost nothing should be an inspiration to the citizens.

    Institutions of learning should consider tilting their approach from emphasizing soft skills but also to capacitate learners on job creation. This is key because what we have today is a situation where there are limited job opportunities and educational institutions continue to produce job seekers instead of job creators. This vicious circle will continue and its adverse effect will increase if we don’t take proactive and drastic measures in creating jobs.

    In addition, we also need to look at South African families and how the role the families play in the challenges facing the country. Looking back at the struggle and what black South Africans went through; most of the youths did not grow in households where their parents or older relatives were entrepreneurs.

    So the first level of socialisation already places them at a disadvantage where they are not exposed to the knowledge and the confidence that they can create their own businesses. So, the idea of creating their own businesses is strange to many of them even when funding and business support structures are provided.

    In conclusion, there is a proverb in Igbo language that says if a child fetches more fire wood than his mates his mates will accuse him of fetching his from the evil forest.

    • Echie is the Acting President of Nigerian Community Western Cape (NCWC).

     

  • Xenophobia: NANS shuts MTN Kaduna, Benue offices

    Members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) on Thursday disrupted operations at the Kaduna and Benue offices of South African telecommunication giant MTN.

    They were protesting xenophobic attacks and killing of 118 Nigerians in the last two years in South Africa.

    NANS’ Director, Travels and Exchange Dominic Philip explained in Kaduna that the step was necessary to curb further attacks, looting, destruction and mindless killing of African nationalities, particularly Nigerians in South Africa.

    Philip recalled that Nigeria had contributed morally, financially, diplomatically and logistically to the agitations that eventually led to the emancipation of South Africans from white’s domination.

    The NANS official also said that African countries led by Nigeria, helped in the institutionalisation of black majority rule in South Africa in 1994.

    He equally said that Nigeria played a big brotherly role by opening economic opportunities for South African citizens to invest in the Nigerian market, the biggest market in Africa.

    Philip, however, noted with dismay, that instead of reciprocating the gesture, South Africa had allowed Nigerians to suffer all forms of discrimination, including murders and looting of their businesses.

    According to him, NANS will no longer align with the diplomatic approach being applied by the Federal Government.

    The government has been promoting cosmopolitan and reconciliatory solution to the killing of Nigerians in South Africa.

    He said: “Available record has shown that the levels of attacks on Nigerians is on astronomical rise, with the recent killing of Nigerian by South Africans, on July 20 increasing the number to 118 in the last two years.

    “Out of this number, 13 were reportedly killed by South African Police in an extra-Judicial manner.

    “It appears that the South African government is incapable of bringing their citizens to order and stop the killings, leaving us with no option than to picket South African businesses in Nigeria until the killing is stopped.

    “We, therefore, want the South African government to investigate and provide accurate number of Nigerians so far killed and prosecute perpetrators of xenophobic attacks to ensure justice for the victims.

    “We equally want the government to generate data of all Nigerians, whose properties were bunt or looted for immediate compensation.”

    In Makurdi, the Benue State capital, the protesting NANS’ members crippled business and commercial activities.

    The protesting students shut down DSTV  and MTN  offices in Makurdi.

    The protesters match through majors streets of Makurdi and sang solidarity sons before they went to the DSTV and MTN offices to shut them down.

    NANS Deputy Zonal Coordinator (Zone C) Abah Owoicho, who led the protest, presented a strong-worded letter of protest to the organisations.

    In the letter, titled: “Position of NANS on Xenophobic Attack on Nigerians in South Africa’’, Owiocho said the protest was a condemnation of the years of barbaric killings of Nigerians in South Africa.

    He said: “Since Nigerians living in South Africa cannot enjoy the same peace and support that South African businesses are enjoying here, it is only reasonable to shut down those businesses and their interests until further notice.’’

    The student leader frowned at the recent killing of a Nigerian student, Dennis Obiaju, describing it as “barbaric’’.

    He said: “It has become necessary for NANS to rise to the occasion and speak against the killings that have continued with no visible attempt by the South African Government to curb the menace.

    “Our pain is deeply rooted in the peace and patronages your organisations and other South African businesses enjoy in our country while the safety of our citizens and their businesses cannot be guaranteed in South Africa.’’

    A source at the MTN said the protests and demonstrations were against xenophobic attacks and therefore had nothing to do with the company.

    The source told The Nation: “It is against xenophobia and MTN has taken steps to inscribe its aversion to the practice in its work places.”

    Appealing for calm, the source said that resorting to service disruptions of the telco is going to be counter-productive.

    According to the source, about 99 per cent of employees in the local arm of the firm are Nigerians, stressing that closing down its businesses and operations could only aggravate youth unemployment in the country.

  • SA mob kills Nigerian man wrongly accused of kidnapping

    A 34 year-old Nigerian, Samuel Nkennaya, has been killed while another Nigerian, Chinonso Nwudo is in critical condition in a South African hospital following mob attack.

    Mr Victor Ayanfe-Oyebanjo, Secretary of Mpumalanga Province branch of the Nigerian Union in South Africa (NUSA), made the disclosure in a statement made available to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday.

    He said that Nkennaya and Nwudo were attacked following accusations that both men kidnapped Chinonye, a six year-old girl, who unknown to their attackers was Nwudo’s daughter.

    “It all started when Nwudo took his six-year-old daughter, Chinonye, to visit Nkennaya at White River town in the evening of April 27.

    “Later, Nwudo and Nkennaya proceeded to buy food for Nwudo’s daughter, Chinonye, at KFC restaurant in the area.

    Ayanfe-Oyebanjo said shortly after buying the food that some bystanders raised false alarm alleging that both men kidnapped the six year-old girl.

    “Thereafter, the community did not bother to ask questions and immediately mobbed the two Nigerians.

    “While they were being attacked, Nwudo kept on shouting that the girl was his daughter and pleaded that they speak to his South African wife to confirm his claim – which actually saved his life.

    “The Police later intervened and called for backup to rescue the victims. Nkennaya died at the hospital on April 28, while Nwudo is in critical health condition,” he said.

    Ayanfe-Oyebanjo said that a week before the incident that two South Africans were murdered for allegedly kidnapping a child in the same area.

    He said a murder case had been opened at the White River Police station and pleaded to Nigerians in the province to remain calm in the wake of the unprovoked attacks.

    “The incident has been reported to NUSA’s national secretariat, while the union is currently seeking redress to ensure that the culprits were brought to book,” he said.

    Mr Adetola Olubajo, the President of NUSA confirmed the killing to NAN.

    Speaking, the wife of Chinonso Nwudo, Mrs Katlekho Ndlovu, a South African national, also confirmed the incident to NAN on telephone from Mpumalanga Province.

    According to her, Chinonye had been traumatised by the incident and was currently undergoing counselling in an undisclosed hospital.

    “They (attackers) did not bother to ask her anything and didn’t even bother to remove her from the scene before beating her dad (Nwudo) unconscious. Chinonye’s dad is in the hospital while her uncle (Nkennaya) is dead,” she said amid tears.