The heat is on. What the South African government considered a minor diplomatic spat with Nigeria has inspired other nations in the continent to step up pressure on the President Malama government to rein in sponsors of xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other immigrants living in the country.
On Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari recalled Nigeria Ambassador to South Africa, Kabiru Bala barely few hours after summoning President Malama’s envoy to explain the reasons behind the killings of some Nigerian residents in the Rainbow nation.
Nigeria has also pulled out of the World Economic Forum, WEF which started on September 4 to demand an end to attacks on her citizens.
President Buhari had earlier held a meeting in Abuja with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Nigeria’s foreign minister, Geoffrey Onyeama where the decision to recall the ambassador was reached.
Since then, other countries have also joined in the diplomatic pressure against South African.
Businesses, shops and other valuable properties belonging to foreigners living in the country have been set on fire, in what analysts considers one of the worst onslaught against non-indigenes in recent days.
Barely few hours after Nigeria said it will no longer attend the summit, other countries such as Rwanda, Malawi, DRC and others have also pulled out.
It’s unclear whether they took the action in solidarity with Nigeria, analysts say.
According to Aljazeera, the South African government has tried to downplay the impact of other African leaders boycotting the summit.
“South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, on a charm offensive to attract $100bn of new investment, tried to limit fallout from the violence, which has rekindled memories of previous deadly attacks on foreigners that also led to reprisals on South African businesses abroad,” the Doha based media giant said.
The WEF was meant to draw funding for the huge infrastructural deficit in the continent, analysts say.
Pressure has mounted in recent days across the continent on the current government in that country to quickly halt the spread of the deadly attacks.
Outbursts against South African interests and business have also grown in other nations across Africa in the last 72 hours.
The situation may even get worse, according to foreign relations experts, as protesters lay siege on MTN, Shoprite and
Multi-Choice offices, major South African franchises in Nigeria.
Skirmishes have been recorded in Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Ibadan and other state’s capital across the country as the political leadership calls for calm.
Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state has sued for peace in the face of protesters’ confrontation with riot policemen who are struggling to restore calm.
International organisations like the United Nations and Amnesty International have blamed the attacks on South Africa’s failure to halt the spread.
South African President has been trying to find solutions to the issue amidst global pressure.
Ramaphosa said on Wednesday that South Africans should never take justice into their own hands against people from other countries.
“We need to quell those incidents of unrest,” Ramaphosa said. “South Africa must be a country where everyone feels safe,” he said, also condemning the recent incidents in which women had been killed.
Meantime, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Malawi’s Peter Mutharika have yet to an official reason for their decisions to pull out of the WEF.
WEF spokesman Oliver Cann said Kagame and Mutharika had informed conference organisers by Saturday – before the attacks had started – that they could not attend.
