Recently, some Nigerians living in
South Africa were reported to have been victims of violence allegedly
fuelled by xenophobia. Hate crimes against Nigerians living in South
Africa are nothing new.
Since the dismantling of
apartheid, Nigerians and other African nationals living in the country
of the Madiba have been the subjects of coordinated xenophobic violence
reminiscent of what black South Africans themselves suffered during the
apartheid era. The story of this recent violence was not different from
previous attacks. Reports of spontaneous assault by some South African
members of Port Nolloth community were said to have targeted the
Nigerian community living in the area.
They
were reportedly chased out of their homes, their property looted and
their shops burnt. The attackers have always accused the Nigerians of
dealing in drugs. But the Nigerian community in South Africa has denied
the allegation. They in turn have accused the South Africans of envy.
They claimed South Africans have always felt threatened by the business
success of Nigerians living in the country. Frequent attacks on Nigeria
in South Africa have often grabbed media attention. Strangely, the South
African government has uncharacteristically condemned the latest
incident as xenophobia. Since 2006, hate crime has been on the increase.
It peaked in 2008 with the widespread violence that targeted foreign
nationals.
Apart from the poverty of the black population in
South Africa, intolerance has also become one of the enduring legacies
of the apartheid era — a system that brutally subjugated the blacks and
treated them as second class citizens in their own country. How ironical
it is then that South Africans would now turn around to subject their
fellow black Africans to the same treatment? And to think it was the
same Africans that supported them to fight apartheid leaves a sour taste
in the mouth. Many of the freedom fighters like Nelson Mandela also
sought refuge in several countries on the continent. Prior to 1994,
immigrants from elsewhere in Africa faced discrimination and even
violence; though much of that risk stemmed from the institutionalised
racism of the time. After 1994 and following democratisation, and
contrary to expectations, the incidence of xenophobia increased. Between
2007 and 2008, at least 67 people died of hate crimes. In 2008, a
series of riots left 62 people dead in an attack apparently motivated by
xenophobia. It has to be noted, however, that African immigrants have
suffered racist attacks, with Nigerian nationals being at the centre of
hate-filled violence and arson.
According to a 1998 Human Rights
Watch report, immigrants from Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique living in
the Alexandra township near Johannesburg were physically assaulted over a
period of several weeks in 1995, as armed gangs identified suspected
migrants and marched them to the police station in an attempt to “clean
the township of foreigners.” The campaigners, known as “Buyelekhaya” (go
back home), blamed foreigners for crime, unemployment and sexual
attacks. Attacks on foreign nationals increased markedly in late 2007.
The most severe incident occurred in 2008 when a series of riots started
in the township of Alexandra. Locals attacked migrants from
Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, and Nigeria. In recent years, tales of
xenophobic attacks on Nigerians living in South Africa have left
compatriots at home in shock. There have also been reported cases of
harassment of Nigerian travellers arriving at the Oliver Thambo Airport.
One celebrated case of disrespect was the treatment of Africa’s first
Nobel winner, Prof. Wole Soyinka.
In 2005, Soyinka was denied
entry into South Africa. It took the last minute intervention of
Mandela’s wife, Graca Machel, to admit the Nobel Laureate into the
country. Soyinka’s trip to South Africa which was in response to an
invitation to deliver a lecture in honour of Mandela drew national and
international focus to the country, both because of Mandela, whose
birthday it was and Soyinka who was the guest speaker. The Professor was
thus understandably peeved at his treatment. In a statement at the
time, he lamented that the attitude of South African immigration “is not
my idea of decent conduct towards one who is not an unknown to South
African officials, has made several ‘regularised’ visits in the past,
and has indeed been invited to the country on this occasion to do honour
to the founding father of the modern South African nation.”
Many
Nigerians have told tales of woes about how South African immigration
officials treat them both in South Africa and in their embassy in Lagos.
The plights of visa applicants at the South African embassy paint a
sordid picture of the xenophobic tendencies of an average South African.
During the 2010 World Cup, many Nigerians who sought genuine reasons to
visit the country were denied entry for no reason. There were reports
of officials hurling racist slurs at visa applicants. In 2012, the
government of South Africa denied 125 Nigerians travellers entry into
its country. The Nigerian travellers were prevented from entering South
Africa on the grounds that they had “invalid” yellow fever vaccination
cards. But many of the travellers who were frequent travellers said they
had used the same cards in previous travels. The Nigerian government
retaliated by denying entry to some South African travellers. A
diplomatic row was averted when the South African government apologised
to the Nigerian government.
Nigerians’ contact with South Africa
began shortly after the end of apartheid in the early 1990s. Economic
difficulties at home and the search for opportunities saw Nigerians seek
greener pastures in South Africa. At the last count, Nigerians form the
bulk of immigrants in that country. Many successful businesses are said
to be owned by Nigerians. An average Nigerian in South Africa does not
discriminate in their choice of jobs. The influx of Nigerians and their
penchant to dominate appear to have angered the average South African.
They have accused Nigerians and other immigrants of taking their jobs.
They have also blamed Nigerians for dealing in drugs and other crimes.
But many of these allegations against Nigerians and other immigrants
have not been substantiated.
The South African government has
also indirectly promoted and encouraged its citizens into believing that
immigrants are responsible for unemployment and crimes. For example,
South Africa’s borders have been remilitarised. According to Christopher
McMichael: “This shared state-corporate project of building up a
‘fortress South Africa’ also reveals a deeply entrenched seam of
xenophobia, in which undocumented migrants and refugees from African
countries are painted as a security risk akin to terrorism and organised
crime. Parliamentary discussions on border security are rife with
claims that foreign nationals are attempting to drain social grants and
economic opportunities from citizens. The packaging of illegal
immigration as a national security threat, which often relies on
unsubstantiated claims about the inherent criminality of foreign
nationals, provides an official gloss on deeply entrenched governmental
xenophobia, in which African immigrants are targets for regular
harassment, rounding up and extortion by the police. This normalisation
of immigrants as figures of resentment may also fuel outbreaks of
xenophobic violence’’.
Nigerians’ rights to live without fear
must be protected. But those who are found to break the laws should be
prosecuted. After all, there are many thriving South African businesses
in Nigeria. Should we then accuse them of taking our jobs? Nigerians
have been tolerant of foreigners. Other countries should reciprocate our
openness. Xenophobic attacks on fellow Africans are against the spirit
of African Brotherhood. The Federal Government must protect Nigerians in
whatever parts of the world they find themselves.
