Nigeria has summoned South Africa’s acting High Commissioner following a spate of recent attacks targeting foreigners in the country.
In a foreign ministry statement, Nigeria said it will formally convey its “profound concern” at a meeting on Monday, warning that the incidents could strain existing relations between both nations.
The talks will address recent anti-immigrant marches and “documented instances of mistreatment of Nigerian citizens and attacks on their businesses,” the statement said.
Local media report that at least two Nigerians and four Ethiopians have been killed in recent weeks, with attacks also carried out against citizens of other African countries.
As Africa’s most industrialised economy, South Africa has long attracted migrants from across the continent seeking work.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned the attacks but urged foreigners to respect local laws. In his Freedom Day address last week, marking South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, he reminded South Africans of the support other African nations provided during the anti-apartheid struggle.
Some South Africans, however, accuse foreigners of being in the country illegally, taking jobs from locals, and being linked to crime, particularly drug trafficking.
Anti-immigrant groups have stopped people outside hospitals and schools to demand identity papers. During a march in Pretoria last week, foreign-owned businesses were urged to close over fears of violence.
“It is not okay because we are blacks, we are brothers… everybody comes here just to survive,” one Nigerian man told BBC Pidgin.
A security guard who could not work because of the protest said: “It’s just making us scared — imagine if we’re scared in our own African continent — what if we go to Europe?”
Tensions rose earlier this year after reports that the head of the Nigerian community in the port city of KuGompo, formerly East London, had been installed in a traditional role translated as “king.” Some locals viewed it as an attempt to seize political power.
South Africa is home to about 2.4 million migrants, just under 4% of the population, according to official figures, though many more are believed to be in the country unofficially. Most come from neighbouring Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, with a smaller number from Nigeria.
Last month, Ghana also summoned South Africa’s top envoy after a viral video showed a Ghanaian man being challenged to prove he had valid immigration papers.
