The Federal Government has assured Nigerians still residing in South Africa of their safety, even as fresh concerns over xenophobic tensions and renewed anti-immigrant protests continue to trigger calls for stronger diplomatic action.
This comes after Nigerians reportedly stormed the country’s embassy in Pretoria as xenophobic tensions escalated while another batch of 269 Nigerians evacuated from South Africa arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on Tuesday aboard an Air Peace flight from Johannesburg at 10.48 am, marking the second government-coordinated evacuation exercise in recent weeks.
Nigerian businessman popularly known as ‘Big Joe’ was reportedly shot and killed by unidentified gunmen on Sunday, outside his shop in Witbank, Mpumalanga Province, though local police have not announced cause of his death.
Thousands of locals marched in major cities across South Africa on Tuesday, calling for the removal of undocumented migrants from the country.
Police officers, supported by private security personnel, were deployed amid concerns that the demonstrations could turn violent. Anti-migrant groups had set Tuesday as a deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave.
In the wake of the protests, many foreign nationals have reportedly fled their communities due to fear of violence and intimidation. South African police said about 25,000 migrants have been repatriated so far, most of them from other African countries.
South African police said the protests were largely peaceful, although isolated incidents of looting, vandalism and assaults were recorded.
In Johannesburg, police maintained a strong presence across the city centre, while businesses remained closed in parts of the commercial district. The military was also deployed to Hillbrow, a suburb with a large migrant population, following reports that a teenager had been shot and a vehicle set ablaze.
Local media reported that protesters in Yeoville threw bricks at some homes occupied by migrants, while demonstrators in Germiston allegedly evicted suspected undocumented foreign nationals from their homes and handed them over to police for immigration checks.
Police said five people were arrested for allegedly looting a foreign-owned shop in Soweto. In KwaZulu-Natal Province, about 10 people were arrested over looting, while another woman was arrested for assaulting a police officer and a man was detained over alleged intimidation following the reported assault of a foreign national.
The leader of the anti-migrant group March and March, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, said the group would continue staging weekly protests over the next six months to pressure the government to deport undocumented migrants.
A member of another anti-migrant movement, Operation Dudula, told the BBC the group would continue pushing police to arrest foreigners found to be living in the country illegally.
On the eve of the protests, President Cyril Ramaphosa met with some protest leaders in an effort to ease tensions.
While acknowledging concerns over immigration, Ramaphosa urged demonstrators to remain peaceful and warned against intimidation and violence.
