South Africa Apologizes to Nigeria for Xenophobic Attacks

Key leaders from the coalition of faith-based organizations, trade unions, NGOs, and corporate South Africa speak out against xenophobia during a people’s march in Newtown.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa apologized to Nigeria on September 16 after a string of violent attacks against Nigerian migrant workers in the Johannesburg area. At least 1,000 businesses have been targeted, and 12 people have died this month. 

South Africa’s economy is the second-largest in Africa, but the unemployment rate has reached nearly 28 percent. Rising unemployment has caused mass discontent and widespread xenophobia, as South Africans fear that their jobs will be taken by migrant workers.

Ramaphosa strongly condemned the violence, saying, “we are very concerned, and of course as a nation we [are] ashamed because this goes against the ethos of what South Africa stands for.” He also sent a diplomatic envoy to Nigeria to reinforce his disapproval. 

Jeff Radebe, the envoy, reassured Nigerians that the South African government would make every effort to stop to the violence. He promised that the police will “leave no stone unturned” in their search for justice. 

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari accepted South Africa’s apology and said that the two nations’ relations would remain strong but nevertheless continued his efforts to evacuate nearly 600 Nigerian citizens. 

The repatriation began after nearly 1,000 foreign-owned businesses were attacked in a cycle of violence beginning on September 1. Nigerians, Ethiopians, Congolese, and Zimbabwean people have all been assaulted. High-ranking emissaries were sent to these nations in an effort to reassure them, and Buhari is scheduled to visit South Africa next month. Videos were spread online of Nigerians being killed, but the Nigerian government claims that there is no evidence that these events took place. Xenophobic violence has been a “longstanding feature in post-apartheid South Africa,” according to a report by the African Center for Migration & Society, but South Africa has only recently received broad international backlash. Hashtags such as #SayNoToXenophobia have been trending on social media in recent weeks.