President Cyril Ramaphosa of
South African would probably have been more careful when, in March, he took a
swipe at foreign nationals “doing business illegally” in his country.
As with most politicians,
Ramaphosa made a campaign issue out of what some South Africans were believed
to be saying about foreign nationals who come to take their jobs and
businesses.
“Everybody just arrives in our
townships and rural areas, and set up businesses without licences and payments”
began the president while addressing thousands of supporters.
“We are going to bring this to an
end, and those who are operating illegally, wherever they come from must now
know.”
Of course, there were pockets of
violence targeted at foreigners shortly after this statement and, expectedly,
Ramaphosa was quick to condemn this ‘in strong terms.’
“It is not acceptable that anyone
of us as South Africans can go out and attack people from other countries
because they come from other countries,” he returned to say two weeks after.
Too late? Daniel Dunia,
secretary-general of Africa Solidarity Network, would explain that those who
spoke with him “said they were acting on the instruction of President Cyril
Ramaphosa who they say called for a clampdown on foreign-owned businesses and
those without correct documentation.”
Indeed, there have been reports
of xenophobic attacks over the years in South Africa, the recent attacks,
however, seemed to have triggered a reprisal, especially with Nigerians.
On Tuesday, aggrieved Nigerians
stormed outlets of Shoprite in Lagos with songs of violence.
Around the Shoprite in Lekki
area, one person was killed as many cars were damaged, including a van
belonging to the police.
This development has prompted
Shoprite, MTN and DStv, three big South Africa businesses in Nigeria, to close
some of their outlets.
While the Nigerian government had
summoned Bobby Moroe, South Africa’s high commissioner to Nigeria, Ramaphosa
had again reiterated that there’s no justification for attacks on foreign
nationals.
Following the recent attacks,
President Muhammadu Buhari’s planned trip to South Africa is now uncertain.
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