from EMEKA OKONKWO in Abuja & MTHULISI SIBANDA in Johannesburg
Africa Bureau
ABUJA, (CAJ News) – AS South Africa plunges deeper into a xenophobia crisis, spare a thought for thousands of children born from relationships between locals and foreign nationals.
These minors are caught in the crossfire of the prevailing violent anti-migrant sentiment and are helplessly at the centre of a controversy that sees vigilante groups hounding them out of clinics and schools.
They are being denied some rights to health and education that South Africa pledges to all children and all other nationals within its borders through the constitution.
The plight of these children is at the centre of engagements between longstanding rivals, Nigeria, the most populous country on the continent, and South Africa, the largest economy.
Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the recently appointed Nigeria Minister of Foreign Affairs, disclosed that she had held a phone conversation with her South African counterpart, the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola to discuss this issue, among several others.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu revealed that she had brought to Lamola’s attention the plight of Nigerian nationals residing with their families in South Africa, as well as the “unfortunate fact that Nigerian children, as well as children born to both Nigerian and South African parents (referred to as ‘Sougerians’), are being wrongfully bullied in schools and taunted to ‘return to their country’.”
“This is reprehensible and capable of causing trauma to young minds, for whom such incidents may remain etched in memory,” she said.
“Hon. Lamola informed me that the South African authorities recognise that they have a responsibility to protect these innocent children and are doing their utmost through education supervisory bodies to discourage these practices,” Odumegwu-Ojukwu said.
Some activists from vigilante groups have openly demanded that all foreign nationals, including those with proper documentation, must leave South Africa.
They are blamed for rising crime, joblessness and overwhelming public schools and clinics.
Some protests have turned violent in major areas of the Eastern Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, where the pickets are most prevalent.
Some vigilante groups demand that foreign nationals married to South Africans or who have children with them must also leave the country alongside their partners.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu said Lamola had expressed “concern and misgivings” over plans by the government of Nigeria to evacuate its citizens wishing to leave South Africa because of the recent xenophobic attacks and anti-foreigner sentiment.
“I maintained that our government cannot stand by and watch the systematic harassment and humiliation of our nationals residing in South Africa, as well as the extra-judicial killings of our people, and that the evacuation of our citizens who want to return home remains our government’s priority at this time,” she said.
The extra-judicial killings could not be substantiated.
“We look forward to receiving information on the alleged extra-judicial killings. To date, no credible information has been availed,” Lamola said while acknowledging the phone call.
“We maintain that while Nigeria has a sovereign right to make a decision regarding the repatriation of its willing citizens, we remain of the view that calls for repatriation will not be able to address the full scale of irregular migration.”
While Lamola is one of the most influential ministers in the President Cyril Ramaphosa-led unity government, Sports and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie is among the most controversial.
He is known to divide opinion because of his stance on immigration.
“All these leaders in the rest of Africa who are issuing warnings to their residents and calling South Africa xenophobic, please don’t forget to ask yourselves why your people are fleeing your leadership in their millions,” McKenzie said.
Earlier this week, Ramaphosa courted controversy by visiting Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and hosting Daniel Chapo, President of Mozambique.
The regimes in both neighbouring countries are blamed for fuelling the immigration crisis through autocracy and economic mismanagement.
A delegation from the Nigerian National Assembly is expected to travel to South Africa, on a date yet to be announced, to engage with South African public representatives on the protests against undocumented migrants.
Nigeria and South Africa have clashed over human rights issues before, most infamously in the mid-1990s when Nelson Mandela condemned Nigerian military dictator General Sani Abacha.
This marked a major shift in South African foreign policy, moving from “quiet diplomacy” to open confrontation.
Relations only improved in 1999 when Nigeria returned to civilian rule, but sporadic fallout persists over xenophobic sentiments.
– CAJ News