According to CNN, violence targeting immigrant
shops first started in the port city of Durban,
where two foreigners and three South Africans
were killed, after residents accused African
immigrants of taking their jobs and committing
crimes. A sixth death also occurred on
Wednesday, and the body of the 58-year-old
foreign national was found in Verulam town,
where a mob attacked the man at his home.
As such, because of the ongoing inhuman
xenophobic attacks in South Africa on foreigners,
Nigerians inclusive, the Nigerian High
Commission in Pretoria recently announced that
evacuation of Nigerian citizens will begin on
Monday, April 20th.
The commission reportedly made the
announcement via a statement, according to
Leadership.ng, which reads in part:
“As from Monday 20th of April 2015, the
process of evacuating Nigerians from
South Africa will begin as directed by the
Federal Government of Nigeria due to the
ongoing Xenophobic attacks on black
foreign nationals in the Republic of South
Africa. To that effect an evacuation
register will be open at the High
Commission in Pretoria for Nigerians
intending to return to Nigeria but cannot
afford flight tickets.”
Meanwhille, The Nigerian Union in South Africa
has said it has concluded arrangements to resettle
50 Nigerians affected by the ongoing xenophobic
attacks.
The President of the union, Ikechukwu Anyene,
made this known in an interview with the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on phone from Pretoria,
South Africa, on Saturday.
Mr. Anyene said the Nigerians were displaced at
Jeppes Town, near Johannesburg.
“We met about 300 Nigerians in Jeppes town,
near Johannesburg, who fled for their safety and
about 50 of them do not have any place to stay.
“We are making arrangements with the Nigerian
mission in South Africa to get them a place to
stay for their safety.
“The Nigerian union has also presented relief
materials to those affected by the attacks and we
are in touch with various branch chapters of the
union in the provinces on their safety and
security,’’ he said.
According to him, Nigerian shops and businesses
in Durban and Johannesburg have been looted
and some burnt.
He said that two shops belonging to Nigerians in
Durban were looted and they lost goods worth
400,000 Rand.
“In Jeppes Town, near Johannesburg, five shops
were looted and one burnt while the estimated
loss is put at One million Rand.
“The incidents have been reported to the police
and we are still taking stock of attacks on
Nigerians,’’ he said.
Mr. Anyene reiterated the union’s call to the
Federal Government to put more pressure on the
South African government to halt the attacks.
The Nigerian foreign minister had however
claimed on Thursday that Nigerians had so far
not been attacked, saying it would only evacuate
Nigerians only if the situation gets worse.
“With the discussions I have been having with
Nigeria’s Head of Mission in Pretoria, no Nigeria
n has so far been affected,” the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Aminu Wali said Thursday in
Abuja.
”They informed me that they have called the
Nigerian community and addressed them and
told them to close their shops, stay home and
keep out of trouble and obey the laws of South
Africa.
“They have also confirmed that the South African
authority has moved in to take actions that would
forestall any further disturbance in South Africa,”
Mr. Wali said. Mr. Wali said it will move to
evacuate Nigerian citizens if the xenophobic
attacks get worse.
“If it gets worse it is the duty of our country to
make sure our people are brought back, and we
are taking that duty serious.
”We are not prepared to allow any of our
nationals to be subjected to such inhuman
treatment.
“We are monitoring the situation and will now
take action according to the situation that
develops,” he said.
Xenophobia in South Africa dates back to 1994
and are mainly targeted at citizens of other
African Countries.
In May 2008 a series of xenophobic attack left 62
people dead.
In the current attack, at least five people have
been killed and hundreds forced to flee their
homes in one of South Africa’s worst outbreaks
of xenophobic violence in years.
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