Xenophobia: South Africa Foreign Minister Reveals Real Reason Behind Attacks On Nigerians

South Africa’s Foreign Minister, Naledi Pandor, addressed the issue of xenophobia on the 5th of September, acknowledging that one of the major reason behind the inhumane attacks on foreign-owned businesses was as a result of the prejudice against people from other African countries. This came a day after Pretoria was forced to shut its embassy in Nigeria over threats of retaliatory violence.

South African companies, MTN, and Shoprite closed stores in Nigeria after retaliatory attacks in one of the stores on Wednesday, 4th September 2019.

About five Africans have been killed in attacks on foreigners in South Africa this week.

The South African Foreign Minister said the government decided to temporarily shut down the embassy in Nigeria for security purpose after a protest march and threats of violence received.

In an interview on the sidelines of a continental economic conference in Cape Town, Pandor said South Africa was in constant contact with Nigerian authorities and was also working to restore peace in areas affected by the violence.

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“There is an Afrophobia we are sensing that exists, there is resentment and we need to address that,” Pandor said.

“There is a targeting of Africans from other parts of Africa, we can’t deny that. But, there is also criminality … because a lot of this is accompanied by theft,” she said, describing the attacks as a complex phenomenon whose root causes were not easy to define.

The violence in South Africa has also affected the conference of the World Economic Forum in Cape Town. Nigeria announced on Wednesday it would boycott the meeting.
The withdrawal of the Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, from the summit where he was scheduled to address a panel on universal energy access on Thursday, has cast a cloud over initiatives to boost intra-African trade.