Credit: /twitter.com/GovernmentZA / South African Minister of Police Bheki Cele (Left) and Lindiwe Sisulu, Minister of International Relations. 

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC TIMES

South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Lindiwe Sisulu, convened an “urgent” meeting Monday of African ambassadors to discuss the current spate of violence against foreign nationals and there properties in the country.  Last month, South Africa launched its National Action Plan to combat xenophobia, racism, and discrimination to address widespread human rights abuses arising from xenophobic and gender-based violence and discrimination that continue to plague South Africa, according to Human Rights Watch.           

“But, the Action Plan fails to address a key challenge fueling the problem: South Africa’s lack of accountability for xenophobic crimes. Virtually no one has been convicted for past outbreaks of xenophobic violence, including the Durban violence of April 2015 that displaced thousands of foreign nationals, and the 2008 attacks on foreigners, which resulted in the deaths of more than 60 people across the country,”

Dewa Mavhinga,  Southern Africa Director with the Africa Division at Human Rights Watch.

Last week more than 150 Malawian nationals in Durban were displaced from an informal settlement following attacks by locals in Sydenham. “People came with knives and pangas and chased us out,” one of the victims said. The distraught families lost everything and a number of those affected want to go home,  IOL reported. 

Now, the South African government is stepping up action to deal with the growing problem:

“South African companies and our citizens are welcomed and loved across the continent; here at home, we should do the same, we must embrace our neighbors and fellow South African. All of us must stand up and send a strong message that violence, all criminal activities and looting of properties of foreign nationals will not be tolerated, and the police and other law-enforcement agencies must act without fear or favour.”

Minister Lindiwe Sisulu statement.

The Minister added that in international forums like the United Nations, African Union (AU) and Southern African  Development Community (SADC), the African continent and all countries in the world looked for South Africa for leadership.

“South Africa has been supported by all African countries and many countries in the world to have a non-permanent seat in the UNSC; it is currently the Vice Chairperson of the AU and the Chair of AU in 2020. These responsibilities require that we must welcome and lead in building bridges between nations, particularly in SADC and the continent,”  Sisulu stated.

South Africa President Pleads For Violence To End

President Cyril Ramaphosa condemns violence against foreign nationals.
#WeAreAfrica pic.twitter.com/AQlwqEYrr4

— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) April 1, 2019

A Scholar Offers Perspective On South Africans Bias Toward Nigerians 

Photo by Gary Raynaldo /  Professor  Adekeye Adebajo,  Director,  Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation,  University of Johannesburg,  at International Peace Institute in Manhattan, NY policy forum Mar. 29, 2019.

Adebajo pointed out that South Africa and Nigeria both trade very profitably off each other, with Bilateral trade between the two pegged $4.5 Billion in 2016.   Adebajo noted  that there are some 120 South African companies based in Nigeria.  However, Adebajo stated that there remains serious strong differences of views about each other. For example,  Nigerians often complain about the ingratitude of South Africans in not acknowledging the important role Nigeria played in the anti-Apartheid struggle.

He said Nigerians also complain about what they perceive to be South African’s mercantile attitude, as South African companies are ubiquitous in Nigeria, while the South African market  is closed to Nigerian companies.  South Africans also, in turn,  often complain about Nigerians’ involvement in  drug trafficking and fraudulent scams, while its companies complain about Nigeria’s bureaucratic obstacles, and lack of infrastructure that makes doing business in Nigeria so difficult.  Adebajo  added that Nigerian immigrants are particularly stereotyped by South Africans as being involved in drugs, theft, prostitution, and witchcraft. 

However, the scholar, who worked and lived in South Africa 15 years, said the views are based on stereotypes and xenophobia. “The vast majority of Nigerians living in South Africa are law-abiding citizens who contribute vastly to South Africa’s economic and social fabric,” he said.