Nigerians ordered out of South African communities

The Nigeria Union in South Africa on Wednesday accused two communities in the country of asking Nigerians to quit their territories.

President of the union, Ikechukwu Anyene, said the Kuruman community in Northern Cape province gave Nigerians till Thursday to leave the place.

Anyene also said the Klaafontein community, extension 5, Johannesburg, has also directed landlords not to renew the rent of Nigerians in the area.

He said the grievance of the South Africans was that Nigerians were responsible for some social vices such as illicit drug trade and prostitution.

Anyene said a Ugandan, who allegedly raped a girl in Kwazulu Natal Province, was described as a Nigerian in the media.

“The Nigeria union held series of meetings with the affected communities as well as police and local authorities on the recent threats to Nigerians,” Anyene told NAN.

“We have also written reports on these incidents and sent to the Nigerian mission and the South African police.

“We recommended interventions before the June 16 deadline to the mission and we are waiting for their response. The union is worried that any incident involving non -South Africans are attributed to Nigerians.

“The union believes that the Early Warning Unit set up by Nigerian and South African governments has not been effective. We are yet to have any meeting since the ministers of the two countries met.

“Since then, there have been sustained media propaganda against our people.”

Nigerians in South Africa have been subjected to different forms of attacks, leading to loss of lives and property.

Efforts made by both governments to restore normalcy have not achieved the desired result.