xenophobic attacks - Afrikan Heroes

President Ramaphosa Envoy, Jeff Radebe Promises to Mend Fences across Africa

September 21, 2019

As South Africa reels from the after effects of the xenophobic attacks on nationals from other African countries, more countries have ramped up evacuation processes of their citizens in the country; President Cyril Ramaphosa’s special envoy to select African countries assures fellow African countries that the government is taking every necessary step to ensure a safe and secure South Africa. The team started their visits from Nigeria where they met with President Muhammadu Buhari, from there they went to Niger, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to deliver a message of solidarity from President Cyril Ramaphosa.

President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa

However, more countries have continued the evacuation of their citizens from South Africa which observers see as a draw back to the shuttle diplomacy engaged in by President Ramaphosa and his government. It could be recalled that a second batch of over 300 Nigerians were evacuated from South Africa over the week, while countries like Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe have also been evacuating their citizens from South Africa.

Analysts say that South African government has been under enormous pressure to assure the world that their country is safe for foreigners because the xenophobic attacks has had negative impacts on consumer confidence, and the economy in general as the hopes of the economy coming out of recession dims. The country is working hard to address its dented image abroad.

Inspite of the development, the Special Envoy which consists of South Africa’s former Minister of Energy, Jeff Radebe, Ambassador Kingsley Mmabolo and Dr Khulu Mbatha, a veteran of the African National Congress; President Cyril Ramaphosa is determined to assure fellow African countries that the government is taking every necessary step to ensure a safe and secure South Africa; Special Envoy Jeff Radebe is the 2018 recipient of the Big Five Energy award presented by Africa Oil & Power (AOP).

The group of Presidential Special Envoys will deliver a message of solidarity from South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa to the heads of state as a means to assure them that the government is committed to addressing xenophobic attacks which sparked in the Gauteng province earlier this month.

“The Special Envoys are tasked with reassuring fellow African countries that South Africa is committed to the ideals of pan-African unity and solidarity. The Special Envoys will also reaffirm South Africa’s commitment to the rule of law,” said an official statement by The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa.

Special Envoy Radebe already met with Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari; President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo and Senegal’s President, Macky Sall since the tour started on September 14, 2019. Buhari assured them that the recent ugly incident will not taint the good diplomatic relationship between Nigeria and South Africa, but called on the South African government to take stringent steps to ensure such occurrence never repeats itself.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

More Nigerians Still Trapped in South Africa

September 14, 2019

Reports from South Africa say that about a thousand Nigerians who would like to return back to Nigeria using the open window of evacuation organized by the Nigerian mission in South Africa but are still trapped there due to the slow process of the evacuation programme. While about 600 registered to be part of the evacuation, documentation challenges have prevented many from leaving as only about 180 made it with the first batch. But more are still trooping into Johannesburg from many cities across the country.

It could be recalled that the first batch arrived Lagos from Johannesburg last Wednesday and were received by the Chairman of Nigeria in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri among other top government functionaries. The evacuation plan by Air Peace was delayed due to documentation process by both the South African government and the Nigerian Missions in South Africa.

Chairman of Nigeria in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri

The Nigerian High Commission in South Africa was said to have arranged temporary Travel Certificate (TTC) for most of those that had offered to return home, many of whom do not have valid passports. Aside Air Peace’s offer, the government is said to have made arrangements for the immediate voluntary evacuation of all Nigerians.

In the latest outbreak of xenophobic violence in South Africa, deadly riots in Pretoria and Johannesburg killed at least 12 people and targeted foreign-owned businesses. There are fears that another round of attacks may follow because there is still tension in the country and comments attributed to some South African leaders are not helping matters are critics and civil society organizations blame the government for the negligence at the root of the whole xenophobic attacks. This concern about another wave of attacks is responsible for the voluntary repatriation from South Africa .

However, sources at the Nigerian Mission in Johannesburg say that efforts are being made to mop up the remaining people after they have been properly documented. However, a representative of the Nigerian community union in South Africa has blamed the officials of the Nigerian Mission in South Africa for the delays saying that the documentation process is so slow that it has become frustrating. Aside this group, there are others who arrived Johannesburg from different parts of South Africa to participate in the evacuation process even though the cities they live in did not experience the xenophobic attacks. A source who spoke with this Correspondent noted that some of those who arrived from farther place such as East London, Port Elizabeth, Durban, and Cape Town

Another source that spoke with this Correspondent say that many of those who volunteered to participate in the process was seen sleeping in the open at the High Commission with no shelter over them for three years. It was not until two days ago that the Mission provided hotel accommodation for them while the processing of their papers is ongoing.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

Deploying The Neighbour Principle post-xenophobia attacks

By Chido Nwakanma

One of the fallouts of the retribution attacks on South African-owned businesses in Nigeria is an opportunity for greater collaboration and engagement between the Nigerian Police Force and citizens in affected communities to track and contain the looters. The Police would have to drive the engagement for optimal returns to all stakeholders. It is the opportunity for Nigerians to act as one in the matter of crime detection and containment.
The opportunity is the application of the Neighbour Principle. The Neighbour Principle draws from English Law and stipulates that each person should take care to look out for his neighbour and ensure not to cause injury to her. It is a significant pillar of insurance practice.

The heist committed by looters against various shops in malls with Shoprite Stores as anchor tenants is a threat not only to the affected shop owners but to consumers of goods and services stolen from those shops. More people are at risk than is apparent. Make no mistake about it. Thieves used the opportunity of the mob to rob.
They will now attempt to sell off those items in the market. The Nigerian Police has rendered the first public service by warning potential customers against patronising items offered at ridiculously low prices. They need to do more.

The Police should open a register in the stations or District Offices closest to each of the affected shops. Shop owners should collaborate with the Nigerian Police. They would offer a detailed inventory of their stolen stocks such as they would do to their insurance companies. That inventory would include tracking identifiers such as registration or license numbers, product and device IDs for laptops, certificate numbers for Iphones and things like IMEI numbers for every other type of phones. Watches, electronics and most such items have serial numbers.

Citizens have a role to play in collaboration with the Nigerian Police. Blow the whistle communally if someone suddenly has an unexplained device purchase. Look closely and check with the Police if you buy an item at prices that are not congruent with existing market rates.
The Shoprite Heist happened at a time of moral crisis for Nigeria. Recently, the FBI drew up a list of 77 persons wanted for fraud in the United States. Some of those already identified are persons who often made a show of their new money to the applause of many. No one could account for their cash or its source.

Moreover, a central pillar of the allegations by the South Africans is the claim that Nigerians in their country are at the vanguard of criminality in the illicit drug trade and others. Nigerians counter and say, while there may be some criminals, they do not describe our country.

Our country had communal values against theft, unexplained wealth and inventory in homes and on persons. Societies work through collaboration. As an old radio jingle stated, “armed robber no be spirit”. They live in the community.
In a shop at the Sangotedo neighbourhood in the week of the heist, the shop attendant, his friends and his madam were discussing the incident. Their consensus was that those who got the items were “lucky”. I hushed them, pointing out that it was thievery. No, they claimed. They claimed that security personnel including soldiers, allegedly allowed or encouraged the crowd to move in. I said it was untrue and impossible. Even if it were so, the security personnel do not own the shops. We all know right and wrong.

Suddenly Madam Shop Owner agreed. She said her husband took umbrage with her when she regretted to his hearing not being on hand to participate in the bazaar. He condemned the notion.
Citizens are confused as to what moral values to uphold. We must collectively as a society proclaim and defend the correct norms to eliminate that confusion for the average citizen.

Reclaiming the moral virtues of Nigeria would be central and contributory to any effort to reposition our reputation. No amount of news releases or press conferences would make a dent. Actions provide the basis for narratives and repeated narratives establish a reputation. Once the activities of Nigerians change, the stories would change.

Everywhere law enforcement works with citizens to uphold the laws. Laws draw on the moral codes of society. Ultimately, the police can only do so much as citizens empower them to do based on shared values.

The very professional team of the Nigeria Police Communications Division would drive this effort through public service messages that link the public interest with the role of the police. Do the right thing. Do it right.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.

First Set of Nigerians from South Africa Arrives Wednesday 11th September

September 11, 2019

With the completion of diplomatic formalities and other immigration requirements, the first set of the over 600 Nigerians who agreed to the federal governments offer for voluntary evacuation from South Africa in the wake of the xenophobic inspired attacks on Africans from other nationalities in South Africa. The attacks which has raised a lot of issues, and caused soured relationship between South Africa and many African countries almost led to a diplomatic spat with Nigeria. Also it took the shine of the World Economic Conference which took place in Cape Town South Africa last week, as many attendees used that opportunity to bring to the fore South Africa’s culture of xenophobia.

The first set made up of about 320 in number will leave South Africa on Wednesday according to the Nigeria Mission in South Africa. The federal government had in the wake of the crisis in South Africa sent an envoy to the President of South Africa, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa condemning the attacks on Nigerians in particular and other African nationals. The government also promised to work with the government of South Africa to tackle issues of crime in the country especially those linked to Nigerians in that country.

The evacuation which was to start last week with Air Peace providing one of its Boeing 777-300ER series to airlift Nigerians willing to be evacuated free of charge was stalled due to the slow documentation process. The process which started on the 3rd of September 2019, could not achieve much as many of the Nigerians there have expired passports and other travel documents. Because of the delay, the Airline had to postpone its evacuation plans till everything is put in place. According to the Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, had said the evacuation set to start today (September 6) had thus been postponed to early next week by which time the embassy would have sorted the issue of travel documents. This is because the Nigerians in South Africa have to obtain travel certificates because many of them do not have travel documents and their passports have expired.

He added that since September 3, the airline had placed its Boeing 777 aircraft on standby awaiting a green light from the federal government. The government had on Thursday acknowledged the plans for evacuation by the private operator. Air Peace opted earlier this week to airlift Nigerians who have been affected by the latest upsurge of xenophobic violence in South Africa. South African outlets have been targeted in parts of Nigeria and its embassies closed for security reasons. “The Air Peace flight to South Africa will take off from the Lagos Airport and also return to Lagos. As earlier stated, the take off could be Sept 9 or Sept 10,” he said.

Earlier, a spokesman of the ministry of foreign affairs announced the plan of the airline to evacuate Nigerians who wish to return to Nigeria “free of charge.” Nigerians have lauded the gesture which some hold should have been government’s responsibility.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.