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Nigeria has summoned South Africa’s acting High Commissioner over a spate of recent attacks on foreigners in the southern African nation.<\/p>\n
Nigeria will formally convey its “profound concern” at a meeting on Monday over incidents in South Africa, saying they could affect existing relations between the countries, according to a foreign ministry statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n The meeting will focus on recent marches held by anti-immigrant groups and “documented instances of mistreatment of Nigerian citizens and attacks on their businesses”, it said.<\/p>\n At least two Nigerians and four Ethiopians have been killed in recent weeks, local media reported, while there have been attacks on citizens of other African countries.<\/p>\n As Africa’s most industrialised country, people from elsewhere in the continent have long travelled to South Africa to seek work.<\/p>\n South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has condemned the attacks but also cautioned foreigners to respect local laws.<\/p>\n He used his Freedom Day address last week – marking the country’s first democratic elections in 1994 – to remind South Africans of the support other African nations had given in the struggle against the racist system of apartheid.<\/p>\n But some South Africans accuse foreigners of being in the county illegally, taking jobs from locals and having links to crime, especially drugs trafficking.<\/p>\n Anti-immigrant groups have been stopping people outside hospitals and schools demanding to see their identity papers.<\/p>\n During a march by one such group in the capital, Pretoria, last week, foreign-owned businesses were urged to close in case of violence<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the time, one Nigerian man told BBC Pidgin: “It is not okay because we are blacks, we are brothers… everybody comes here just to survive.”<\/p>\n A security guard, who was unable to go to work because of the protest, told the BBC: “It’s not what we expected as fellow Africans.”<\/p>\n “It’s just making us scared – imagine if we’re scared in our own African continent – what if we go to Europe?” he asked.<\/p>\n Last month, Ghana summoned South Africa’s top envoy<\/a> after a video was widely shared showing a Ghanaian man being challenged to prove he had the correct immigration papers.<\/p>\n Anti-immigrant sentiment 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 <\/a>in a traditional role that can be translated as “king”. Some South Africans in the local area saw this as an attempt to grab political power.<\/p>\n South Africa is home to about 2.4 million migrants, just less than 4% of the population, according to official figures. However, many more are thought to be in the country unofficially.<\/p>\n Most come from neighbouring countries such as Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, which have a history of providing migrant labour to their wealthy neighbour. A smaller number come from Nigeria.<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Khanyisile Ngcobo in Johannesburg<\/em><\/p>\nYou may also be interested in:<\/h2>\n