Riyaz Patel
Diplomatic efforts are being stepped up to stem the fall out between Pretoria and Abuja in the wake of the attacks on foreigners in South Africa and the targeting of SA-owned businesses in Nigeria.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to undertake a State Visit to South Africa next month to reinforce what the South African Presidency say is “the strong bonds between the two countries and jointly develop responses to challenges affecting people and businesses in South Africa and Nigeria.”
Following the wave of public violence in South Africa and developments in Nigeria around South African businesses based in the West African country, President Cyril Ramaphosa held discussions with Nigerian presidential envoy Ahmed Rufai Abubakar Friday.
The visit to Pretoria by the special envoy followed a recent meeting between Presidents Ramaphosa and Buhari in Yokohama, Japan, on the sidelines of the Summit of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, a statement from the presidency said.
“The Special Envoy conveyed Buhari’s concern at recent events in South Africa, in the context of the strong and cordial relations that characterise the interaction between the two countries,” the statement added.
Abubakar told Ramaphosa that “Nigeria stands ready to assist South Africa in establishing the root causes of and developing sustainable solutions to the challenges concerned.”
President Buhari said the Nigerian government will act against lawlessness and the targeting of South African assets in Nigeria, the presidential envoy told the South African president.
The violence erupted last Sunday, with the looting and targeting of foreigners leaving a trail of despair and destruction in and around Johannesburg, the economic powerhouse of SA.
Businesses were reduced to ashes and foreign citizens forced to flee to safety as the unrest spread like wildfire.
The chaos has been widely condemned by South Africa’s leaders, with Finance Minister Tito Mboweni standing in for Ramaphosa at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town, saying the majority of South Africans are against the violence being meted out against African migrants and refugees in the country.
South Africa’s diplomatic missions were also targeted in Nigeria and the DRC, while Zambia and Madagascar cancelled football friendly matches against Bafana Bafana.
Ramaphosa reaffirmed South Africa-Nigeria relations as being firm and said the two partners were “resolute in their shared commitment to build an Africa at peace with itself and others.”
