South African high commissioner vows to stop xenophobic attacks

South African government has assured that it will continue to collaborate with major stakeholders in Nigeria to find lasting solution to xenophobic attack of Nigerians in South Africa.The South African High Commissioner toNigeria, Lulu Mnguni, gave the assurance on Thursday, February 23, in Abuja when Senator Shehu Sani, the Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs visited him.

Mnguni, who condemned recent attacks on foreigners, particularly Nigerians in South Africa, said there was need for the two countries to work together to bring an end to the problem.According to him, it is important for Nigeria and South Africa to bring strategists to discuss the issues at stake to find appropriate solution.He said“we will look for ways to containthe tension and come up with measuresto encourage interaction between the two countries and other African nations.“South Africa cannot stay as an island, instead, it will continue to work toward peace building and integration.”The high commissioner added that the South African government had always pushed for respect for human rights, stressing that there was no justification for the attacks.He, however, urged foreigners to alwaysabide by the laws of the countries wherethey live.He said there were concerns among South Africans that a few foreigners, including Nigerians, were involved in drug peddling.He explained that a few foreigners involved in drug trafficking and other crimes were giving false impression of other people in South Africa.

He said that“in spite of this, the South African Government had benefited immensely from the economic activities of foreigners.“There are foreigners, including many Nigerians that are law abiding and are contributing to the economic development of South Africa. However, there are few people who give wrong impression of foreigners.”