STILL ON SOUTH AFRICA’S XENOPHOBIC VIOLENCE

Why the South African government must make up for its lapses, a mob action against its interests is undesirable

The continued attacks on African immigrants by South African mob have sparked anger and protests against South Africa across the continent. In Nigeria, there were protests last week Monday on the streets of Abuja, Benin City, Kaduna, and other places in response to the xenophobic attacks. The flagship, an affiliate of Edo State civil society organisations, threatened to shut down South African firms operating in Nigeria while Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to urgently take legal action against the South African government before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to seek effective remedies, including adequate compensation, especially for the victims.

But the federal government has responded to the situation. First, it summoned the South African High Commissioner, Ambassador Lulu Mguni, to register its displeasure over the xenophobic attacks which had claimed the lives of seven people and saw to the looting of stores and property belonging to foreigners. Then a statement by the Foreign Affairs Ministry said Nigeria’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Martin Cobham, and Deputy High Commissioner, Uche Ajulu-Okeke, had been asked to return home for consultations. “The invitation is in connection with the on-going xenophobia in South Africa targeting foreigners, mainly African migrants,” the statement said.

While we join in the call for our government to be firmer with the South African authorities over the ugly developments, we are also quick in calling on our security agencies to be on the alert for any possible acts of revenge against South African people and business interests in Nigeria. Mob retaliation

THE DANGER OF THE CURRENT MADNESS IN SOUTH AFRICA IS THAT IF IT IS NOT CURBED, IT COULD LEAD FRUSTRATED CITIZENS OF OTHER AFRICAN COUNTRIES TO ALSO BEGIN TO ATTACK SOUTH AFRICAN PEOPLE AND THEIR BUSINESS INTERESTS IN THEIR COUNTRIES

is not a solution to the challenge at hand and it is important for our citizens to prove the point that we are more civilised than the South Africans who have for weeks been maiming and killing innocent African immigrants and looting their shops.

However, we condemn in very strong terms the levity with which the South African authorities have thus far treated what has become a perennial affair for which there seems to be no coherent strategy. As we noted in an earlier editorial, the current attacks are only a replay of the 2008 xenophobic tragedy which led to the killing of 62 persons in Johannesburg townships. And it would mark the second time this year when such attacks, usually directed at African immigrants from countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Mozambique, Somalia and Malawi, would be carried out without consequences.

What is even more unfortunate is that the African Union (AU) has not come out strongly on this tragedy that puts the continent to shame. And this is despite the fact that it had forewarned that the nationals of other African countries running shops, stalls and other businesses within the informal South African economy were gradually becoming endangered. A 2007 Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) report of AU had stated that “despite the solidarity and comradeship between black South Africans and the rest of the people of sub-Saharan Africa during the decades of struggle against apartheid and for liberation, foreigners, mostly of African descent, are being subjected to brutality and detention. Xenophobia against Africans is currently on the rise and should be nipped in the bud”.

The danger of the current madness in South Africa is that if it is not curbed, it could lead frustrated citizens of other African countries to also begin to attack South African people and their business interests in their countries. That is why we call on the government of President Jacob Zuma which has shown gross incompetence in dealing with this ugly situation to quickly bring to a halt the xenophobia that puts a dent on the image of South Africa and has become a big shame for the continent.