South Africa apologises to Nigeria

South Africa deployed a special envoy to Nigeria yesterday after waves of violence, arson and looting mostly targeted at the migrant business community swept through the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria. Special envoy from South Africa, Jeff Radebe was in Abuja to attend a meeting on Monday to convey the apologies on behalf of the South African government to the Nigerian government and his president Muhammadu Buhari.

In his message conveyed, he said: “The incident does not represent what we stand for and the South African police would leave no stone unturned, that those involved must be brought to book”.

In a statement after the meeting, Nigeria’s presidency said “President Buhari responded to profuse apologies from the South African president, pledging that relationship between the two countries will be solidified.”

There were no Nigerians killed according to South African authorities but the violence led to the death of ten persons, eight South African and two Zimbabweans. The recent spate of violence met with a wide condemnation from the rest of the continent.

Abiodun Abidoye