Nigerians in South Africa have called on the
Federal Government to come to their aid as they
now live in fear in South Africa following the
outbreak of xenophobic attack.
According to The Nation, when the South
Africans carried out the plot in the early hours of
February 24, Nigerians, who had prepared
themselves for any eventuality, were spared the
loss of lives, which had been their lot in previous
attacks.
As he watched the violent attacks on television,
Femi, who pleaded that his full name should not
be used for security reasons, realised that he and
other Nigerians owe their lives to the benevolence
of some of their hosts. Femi, who has lived in
the former apartheid colony for five years now,
said Nigerians now live in fear of attack every
day.
Weeks after the latest waves of attacks on
foreigners by South Africans, Femi, who trades in
accident cars, is yet to get over the trauma of the
ugly incident.
Recalling his experience, he said: “We had
information from people close to the South Africans
that they were going to attack us.
“They normally say they are going against illegal
immigrants.
“The week before the last attack, they came to a
mechanic workshop owned by a Nigerian. The place
is called Embassy, on Christophel Street in Pretoria.
They burnt 28 cars in that shop.
“On 24th of the month, they marched around from
Attridgeville down to Pretoria West. During the march,
they were destroying and looting shops. It was chaos.
“I stayed in Pretoria West, and I was indoor
throughout. I switched on the television to monitor
what was happening. The experience was horrible.
You can imagine watching people moving round and
attacking your people. I don’t pray to go through
such experience again.
“At a stage, the immigrants, Ethiopians, Somalians
and Nigerians, decided that they would fight back,
because even though the South Africans and their
police know the drug peddlers and the prostitutes,
they still go ahead to attack foreigners who go about
their legitimate businesses. “
Femi says he no longer feels secure in South Africa. “I
am just trying to get myself together and go back to
Nigeria or relocate to a more peaceful country,” he
said with a tinge of sadness.
The story was the same for Seye Oladeji. For
him, living in Pretoria West in the last 10 years
has been a tough decision.
Like other Nigerians, Oladeji survived the latest
attack because some friendly South Africans told
him of an impending attack.
He said: “I was indoor all through the period of the
attack. I have been in South Africa since 2007. I
witnessed it in 2008. I know how they are.
“Two houses close my residence and belonging to
Nigerians were burnt. It was a really traumatic
experience.”
However, despite the trauma and loss foreigners
go through in South Africa, he is not ready to
quit. With his firm understanding of the country
and its people, Oladeji said he would always get
by in the midst of the violence.
“Some of us know how to go around when they are
doing all these. I get by,” he said with a sense of
assurance.
Ezechukwu Emmanuel lives in Durban, South
Africa. For eight years, he had learnt to relate
with the people around him with suspicion.
Although the last orgy of violence was largely
restricted to Pretoria and its suburbs, Emmanuel
said most Nigerians in the country feared for
their lives while the attack lasted.
“I don’t really know why these people are doing this
to us. We go about our businesses legally, but they
are envious of our achievements and they want to kill
us,” Emmanuel said.
As the angry mobs attacked Nigerians and looted
shops belonging to Somalis, Pakistani and other
migrants in townships around Pretoria and parts
of Johannesburg, the venom and anger on their
faces were enough to scare the daylight out of
any human.
As they went round looting shops and other
properties owned by Nigerians and other
foreigners, it was obvious that the intent was to
exterminate anybody that tried to stop them.
“They (foreigners) should know that this they are a
guest in my house. I am treating them with respect.
They should treat me with respect,” one angry
protester told the BBC.
Nigerians in South Africa were “notorious” for
dealing drugs, he added, calling for greater
checks on foreigners coming into the country.
The main South African group behind the
Pretoria attacks, Mamelodi Concerned Residents,
blamed foreign nationals for taking jobs and
accused them of being involved in prostitution
rings and drug cartels.
The petition delivered by the group to the home
affairs ministry alleged worshippers from
Zimbabwean apostolic churches, who congregate
in the open, were “destroying our public parks” ,
and accused them of defecating, urinating and
burning fires.
It also said foreigners were “arrogant and don’t
know how to talk to people, especially Nigerians.”
But a Nigerian, who said he had earlier sent his
family back home to Nigeria, said the accusations
were wrong. He claimed he suffers daily attacks
from South Africans, who he accused of envy.
“I think the main reason these people attack us is
because they are envious. Nigerians are hardworking
people. If you look round the country, we don’t mind
any kind of job, and we carry ourselves with pride.
But they have termed that to mean that we are
arrogant.
“For instance, if you go to a car wash business
owned by a Nigerian, you would see the difference
with one owned by a South African. Rather than
change their attitude to work, they are trying to make
scape goats of foreigners, particularly Nigerians.”
The South African President, Jacob Zuma, said
many foreign citizens living in South Africa were
law-abiding and huge contributors to the
economy.
“It is wrong to brandish all non-nationals as drug
dealers or human traffickers. Let us isolate those who
commit such crimes and work with government to
have them arrested without stereotyping and causing
harm to innocent people,” Zuma said in a
statement.
Speaking further, the president denied that South
Africans were xenophobic and that the event
“was anti-crime in the main. It was not an anti-
foreigners march.”
At the height of the attacks, Nigerian groups in
the country rose with one voice. The leaders of
the Oodua Progressive Union (OPU) in South
Africa said five buildings with Nigerian
businesses, including a church, was looted and
burnt by South Africans.
The coordinator of the group, Tunji Aladeselu,
said: “One of the buildings is a mechanic workshop
with over 20 cars under repair. Aside this, other vital
documents were burnt during the attack. The pastor
of the church sustained injuries and is currently
receiving treatment in the hospital.”
Aladeselu called on the Nigerian government to
help protect Nigerians from further attacks.
“We visited the Nigerian Embassy to meet with other
members of the Nigerian community and to fashion
out ways of safe guarding Nigerians.
“We also demand that the Federal Government of
Nigeria relate with its South African counterpart to
increase security presence in areas highly populated
by Nigerians and their business concerns.”
In the same vein, the chairman of Nigerian Union
in Kwazulu Natal, Mr.Barthlomew Eziagulu,
condemned the understanding of the South
Africans. He said the people are now more alert
to attacks. “The people’s understanding is low. We
are still on alert. While the attacks were on, we
encouraged our citizens to be indoors.
“Even up till now, we are still on the alert.”
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