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Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa says that he is “very upset” about the protracted killings of Nigerians in South Africa, adding that the trend had necessitated the call for a meeting of the leaders of both countries on how to promptly nip the matter in the bud.
The Presidency has earlier in the month said President Muhammadu Buhari and his South African counterpart will meet in October to discuss issues relating to the wellbeing of citizens and ways to further strengthen trade relations between the two largest African economies.
Ramaphosa stated this while fielding questions from reporters on the sidelines of the ongoing seventh Tokyo International Conference for Africa Development (TICAD7) in Yokohama.
He said his government was very upset about the spate of killings of Nigerians.
Ramaphosa’s reaction is comes following the latest report that a group of eight South African policemen had allegedly killed a Nigerian businessman in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province.
The policemen were reported to have killed the Nigerian national when they interrogated him at his home over the weekend.
South Africans have been involved in xenophobic killings of Nigerians, complaining that that resident Nigerians are depriving them of job opportunities in their own countries.
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) recently picketed three South African companies, including MTN, threatening to shut them down if the killings of their fellow citizens living in South Africa are not stopped.
Ramaphosa told reporters that his country’s justice system had already taken up the matter, pointing out that he was not in support of the killings, and insisted that there was no justifiable reason for anybody to be killed.
The South African President described the meeting with President Buhari as a good o foopportunity for both South Africa and Nigeria to renew the bond of unity between the countries and discuss issues of common interest in the overall interest of the African continent.
“We have very good relations,” Ramaphosa said.
“We’ll talk about the issue of Nigerians who are dying in South Africa.
“We feel very upset about that.
“Obviously, our criminal justice system is working on it. We don’t support killings. Nobody should ever be killed, but it’s also good to use this opportunity here in Japan to renew the bond between us, to talk about common things between South Africa and Nigeria. We know we have to play key roles in the overall development of the continent,” Ramaphosa said.
