Nigeria Abroad
Nigerians in South Africa are living in fear of imminent xenophobic attacks and have had to partner with NGOs that offer them protection, says Adetola Olubajo, president of the Nigerian Union in South Africa.This comes after Diepkloof, Soweto, residents threatened a shutdown of shops belonging to foreign nationals if their concerns were not addressed.
Operating under the banner #OperationDudula, Diepkloof residents and those from surrounding areas marched on June 16 to demand that their grievances about undocumented foreign nationals in the area be addressed.
They said foreign nationals were preventing many locals from getting jobs and are selling drugs to the youth, increasing crime and gender-based violence.
Olubajo said: “Our undocumented migrants face the law and pay for the crimes they have committed. It is not correct for a group of people to take the law into their own hands. This causes unnecessary strife and threats and attacks.”
In a memorandum issued to the City of Joburg mayor and departments such as Home Affairs on the high rate of undocumented foreign nationals, #Dudula spokesperson Dan Radebe said:
“Undocumented foreign nationals still fill our area and continue to operate their spaza shops and selling drugs. Our people are suffering because of the lack of jobs and the high-crime rate caused by our youth’s need to feed their drug cravings. We need the law to be on our side and to hear our concerns to save the livelihood of our people.”
Radebe highlighted some of the grievances listed in the memorandum.
“A prevention of illegal invasions need to be put in place; reclaiming of hijacked properties by entities such as the Johannesburg Property Company and the Johannesburg Development Agency.
“We also want regular clean-ups, the removal of illegal advertisements from street poles and electrical boxes, and the end of abuse of children placed at traffic intersections to beg for money.”
Radebe said they had requested “a sit-down” with the office of the mayor within 14 days to prevent a total shutdown in Soweto and other areas in the city.
The mayor’s spokesperson, Mlimandlela Ndamase, said the memorandum had been received and communication with #OperationDudula would be made soon.
Migrant Workers’ Association chairperson Dutholezwe Nyathi acknowledged that many of the migrants who entered South Africa were undocumented and the association was encouraging them to legalize their statuses.
He said that to protect the migrants who formed part of their association, they had sent alerts to the media, which were often used to leak proposed xenophobic attacks. Alerts were also sent to the police calling for protection.
“It is always a handful of people who plan the attacks on migrants and often when we are alerted of this, we encourage migrants to vacate before the attack. Many of the migrants leave their country for economic and political reasons. It is disheartening for them to experience this when they are the breadwinners for their families,” said Nyathi.
This story first appeared in Nigeria Abroad
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