The South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation, DIRCO, has indicated
that it is working to assess the damage done after the South African High Commission in
the Nigerian city of Lagos came under attack.
The High Commission was forced to shut its doors on Wednesday 04 September 2019, after
protesters targeted the premises.
While the extent of damage was yet to be determined, it is understood, that a vehicle was vandalised
during the demonstrations.
Some South African businesses operating in Nigeria, including MTN, Shoprite, and Multichoice
have closed down until further notice.
It is understood, that the attacks were in retaliation to the xenophobic attacks, and
mass looting in South Africa, where numerous shops owned by foreign nationals have been
ransacked and looted.
The Nigeria Police Force plan to boost security at High Commissions and Embassies, as well
as foreign businesses in Nigeria in the wake of violence targeted at South African-owned
companies.
On Wednesday 04 September 2019, Nigeria indicated that it would boycott the World Economic Forum,
currently taking place in Cape Town, intensifying a diplomatic row after a series of deadly
attacks on foreigners in South African cities.
The withdrawal of Nigerian Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, from the World Economic Forum
gathering, has cast a cloud over initiatives to boost intra-African trade.
He was scheduled to address a panel on universal energy access on Thursday 05 September 2019.
The South African President, Cyril Ramaposa, on a charm offensive to attract $100 billion
of new investment, tried to limit fallout from the violence, which has rekindled memories
of previous deadly attacks on foreigners, which also led to reprisals on South African
businesses abroad.
The South African Police Service claimed they have made almost 300 arrests, while people
across the continent have protested and voiced their anger on social media.
The President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, and the President of Malawi, Peter Mutharika,
also pulled out of the conference, but their governments did not give any official reason
for their decision.
The Foreign Minister of Zimbabwe, Sibusiso Moyo, told Reuters the attacks were unfortunate,
in an environment where we are looking forward to regional integration and co-operation.
There are a significant number of Zimbabweans living in South Africa and they, along with
Somalians and Nigerians, have formerly borne the brunt of attacks on foreigners in South
Africa.
Earlier, a Ghanaian parliamentarian had called for the relocation of the Pan-African Parliament
away from South Africa, and also demanded that President Cyril Ramaphosa be stripped
of his pending position, as the Chairman of the African Union in 2020.
It is unclear as to what ignited the latest attacks, which mainly targeted shops owned
by African migrants, but unemployment is high in South Africa, and many South Africans feel
frustrated with limited economic opportunities.
The current unemployment rate in South Africa stands at 29%, according to Statistics South
Africa, but this figure is quite vague, because there is a question of employability.
Many unemployed South Africans are unemployed because they do not have any prerequisite
employable skills and qualifications, and so in actual fact they are unemployable.
It can be proved that there are many job opportunities in South Africa, both in government departments
and private companies, but many black South Africans are unable to help themselves to
these opportunities because they do not possess the prerequisite skills, qualifications, and
experience to take up these jobs.
Many of these opportunities exist in the areas of engineering, medicine, aeronautics, finance
and accounting, actuarial sciences, Mathematics and Physical Sciences education and research,
computer sciences, software development and programming, and many more.
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