My compelling hook in this article is that – without mincing words – South Africa has utterly disappointed Nigeria following repeated bitter and violent xenophobic attacks by Southern African citizens on Nigerians and citizens of some other African countries. President Cyril Ramaphosa therefore has to do much more to mend broken fences beyond sending a Special Envoy to Abuja or to other governments whose citizens were attacked.
Just a few days ago, Reuters (July 27, 2026) reported that the Nigerian government has told its South African counterpart to curb xenophobic attacks on migrants, observing that ‘repeated violence was straining ties and raising questions about whether the government was complicit.’(Reuters) This strong statement was made when a South African delegation, led by a Special Envoy and the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, came to Nigeria to see President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who directed the delegation to meet the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye.
At the meeting between the two countries in Abuja, Ambassador Enikanolaiye aptly said that ‘we have seen a pattern that has become a concern to the Nigerian government ’, tracing it back to 1995. He revealed the shocking news that since 2022, at least 98 Nigerians have been killed in xenophobic attacks. The minister rightly noted that Nigeria has evidence of the unwillingness of the South African police to intervene when such attacks were going on. This, he said, raised ‘issues of complicity if the state authorities are unwilling or not able’ to protect Nigerians and citizens of other countries. The South African Envoy Lamola, in response, however, stated that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government ‘was firmly opposed to xenophobia, racism and discrimination.’
Evidence on the ground does not show strong support that the government is doing enough. Only a few days ago, a Nigerian was reportedly tortured to death by South African police in Cape Town. A viral video which circulated over the weekend showed South African police ‘appearing to use a polyethylene/plastic bag to suffocate’ a Nigerian ‘while he cried that he was dying.’ As the TheCable (July 27, 2026) reported, the Nigerian citizen pleaded that he was innocent over an unclear matter. But the BBC (July 27, 2026) reported that the Western Cape police said that the Nigerian died while he was being placed under arrest as he allegedly became unwell and collapsed. But for us here, this police narrative appears contrary to what the viral video showed. The point worth emphasizing is that the South African police is culpable not only in this particular case in Cape Town, but in many other known instances. There are cases where, for instance, the police looked the other way while immigrants were under attack.
Given what has happened to Nigerians and other citizens of other countries so far, the South African envoy’s statement that the government ‘was firmly opposed to xenophobia, racism and discrimination’ is not enough to assuage rising feelings of utter disappointment by sister governments whose citizens have been severely attacked and killed. There appears to be a lack of shrewd management of the incidents of rampant xenophobic attacks. For example, why would documented immigrants who are lawful residents (some of whom are permanent residents) be attacked alongside undocumented or illegal immigrants? Does the South African government realize the full implications of such highly irresponsible and reprehensible behaviour of its citizens? What satisfactory efforts has the government made to prosecute police officials found to be culpable in these shambolic attacks beyond the promise that they would be prosecuted? Again, what strong, convincing measures have the government taken against members of the so-called unlawful vigilante groups caught in these criminal activities of looting or destroying and burning shops? Some of these are questions that expose the lack of shrewd management of the entire disgraceful acts by the South African government.
The bold and successful demonstrations by such groups as the March and March, and the Operation Dudula movements, have portrayed the South African government as if it is a toothless bulldog. Why would fragility of the government in domestic politics override the commitment of upholding its obligations to protect the dignity of immigrants on its soil and thereby maintain good relations with other African countries, all of whom are members of the African Union (AU)? This brings into question the dimension of the Afrophobic nature of the attacks. Put differently, why are these attacks selective and discriminatory to the extent that they are now restrictively called Afrophobic and not merely xenophobic? For instance, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Enikanolaiye, said that President Tinubu was of the view that the distinction between xenophobia and Afrophobia matters much (Vanguard, July 28, 2026).
And it was as a result of all these that the Government of Ghana has shown total disillusionment over the harsh treatment meted out to its citizens and had decided to escalate the matter even beyond Africa. Nigeria has also (through its Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Enikanolaiye) made the bold statement that it has options and that Nigeria is not helpless in this situation. All options, he said, are still on the table (Vanguard, July 28, 2026). One of Nigeria’s present demands is justice and compensation for loss of properties by Nigerians whose businesses have been destroyed or looted by South Africans.
One is not unaware of some genuine concerns of South Africans. For example, this column does not in any way support the provocative installation of Igbo Kings in South Africa. The practice is provocative not only in South Africa and some other countries but also in Nigeria outside the Igbo-speaking areas. One is also not unaware that a socio-cultural organization called the Ohaneze Ndigbo has made its serious position known on this practice that infuriates host communities, including in Nigeria. But beyond the claim of the installation of Igbo kings in South Africa as one of the reasons fueling xenophobic attacks (as the government claimed), some concerns or complaints of the anti-immigrant vigilante groups are misplaced and diversionary. No one is taking their jobs, particularly in the informal sector where businesses are established through individuals’ industrious efforts. Let the complaining South Africans establish their own businesses, thereby reducing unemployment; after all, the immigrants whose businesses are destroyed were even employing locals, thereby reducing unemployment.
There is therefore no gainsaying the fact that the South African government has to be shrewd in repairing the damage already done and then be firm in stopping further attacks on Nigerians and other African nationals. There is no reason why undocumented immigrants should just be killed criminally, as the law should be allowed to take its course. In fact, what some South African citizens and police are presently doing is barbaric in the 21st century. It reminds us of the ‘police brutality and custody death cases in the United States, most notably those of Eric Garner in 2014 and George Floyd in 2020’ (New York Times). It is so sad that black South African police can do the same thing to fellow blacks on African soil, as in the case of the Cape Town incident mentioned earlier. Nigeria’s loss of 98 lives is more than enough that no further attacks should occur, as it will not be in the interest of South Africa to allow further killings because tempers are high in Nigeria.
Prof. Obasi, a public policy expert, is in the Department of Public Administration at the University of Abuja (now Yakubu Gowon University).
