South Africa’s Consul-General, Prof. Bobby Moroe, has rejected claims that Nigerians and other foreigners are being targeted in xenophobic att@cks in South Africa, insisting that “there is no xenophobia in South Africa.”
Moroe made the statement during an interview on Nigeria Info FM while responding to concerns over the repeated targeting of Nigerians in the country.
The interviewer noted that Nigerians were concerned about attempts to attribute the att@cks solely to illegal migration, recalling previous xenophobic att@cks against Nigerians and other foreigners.
“There’s no xenophobia in South Africa,” Moroe responded.
When the host questioned whether previous att@cks could be described as xenophobic, the Consul-General cited historical incidents involving foreigners in Nigeria, including the expulsion of Ghanaians during the “Ghana Must Go” era.
He said such actions were driven by economic concerns rather than h@tred of foreigners.
“We only said they should go back to their country because, you know, we wanted better economy for ourselves,” Moroe said.
Addressing concerns that the current situation could be linked to previous att@cks, he acknowledged that Nigerians had genuine reasons to be worried.
“Yeah, no, your concerns are genuine. But as a government, we condemn ab¥se of any individuals, whether South African or foreigner, even if you are illegal.
Whether you are legal or illegal, you have a right according to the South African Constitution for protection,” he said.
According to him, South Africans are raising genuine concerns over unemployment, inequality and pov£rty, but the government rejects any attempt to address such issues through violence.
He also argued that the term “xenophobia” had become disproportionately associated with South Africa.
“The nomenclature xenophobia has become synonymous with South Africa. If it happens in other countries like it’s happening in Ghana now, it is not given the name xenophobia, it’s called something else,” Moroe said.
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