South Africa has finally decided to reach out to Nigeria and other countries worse-hit by xenophobic attacks in its territory.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has despatched his envoy to Abuja to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari to explain his country’s commitment to “Pan African unity and solidarity”.
He would also speak on steps taken to end the attacks on foreigners and to bring perpetrators to account.
The attacks and killings have strained the relationship between the two countries.
President Buhari sent a special envoy to express the Federal Government’s displeasure.
Also at the weekend, Zimbabweans booed President Ramaphosa during the funeral of former President Robert Mugabe.
On Sunday, President Ramaphosa’s spokesman Khusela Diko said three envoys would visit Nigeria and six other countries.
He added that the envoys would deliver the president’s message regarding the attacks on foreign nationals and destruction of property.
They will also reassure fellow African countries that South Africa is committed to the ideals of pan-African unity and solidarity.
Besides, the envoys will reaffirm South Africa’s commitment to the rule of law.
Diko listed the other countries for visitation as Niger, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.
They will brief the governments about steps being taken by South Africa to halt the attacks and to bring the perpetrators to book.
Nigerian citizens are fleeing South Africa following the wave of deadly xenophobic attacks.
After private airline Air Peace volunteered to fly people back home for free, a flight carrying 189 Nigerians landed in Lagos last Wednesday.
Another batch of 320 Nigerians is due for evacuation tomorrow, the airline’s management confirmed on Sunday.
One-time External Affairs Minister Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi has urged the Federal Government to sue South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the attacks.
He called on Nigeria to file complaints against specific South African officials at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for aiding and abetting the xenophobic attacks.
To ensure the return of the second batch of Nigerians, a Boeing 777-300 belonging to Air Peace and its crew will depart Lagos in the early hours of tomorrow for the Oliver Tambo International Airport in South Africa.
Air Peace Chairman Allen Onyema told The Nation that the airline was working with the Nigerian High Commissioner in South Africa, which he said confirmed the ongoing profiling of Nigerians willing to return.
According to him, the airline was ready for the operation, noting that efforts were on to deploy a bigger aircraft with a capacity for 367 passengers to bring more Nigerians willing to return home.
He said the High Commission had prepared over 350 Nigerians for the flight.
The Air Peace chairman, however, hopes that the immigration hurdles that forced the airline to return half-full during last week’s evacuation, would not play out again.
Onyema said the carrier would be willing to deploy a bigger aircraft if it is sure that the affected Nigerians would scale relevant immigration hurdles set by South African authorities.
He said: “Air Peace is fully mobilised for the next batch of evacuation of Nigerians from South Africa. We did not suspend flights; we only waited for the Nigerian High Commission in South Africa to prepare the next batch. The idea is not to fly a half-full aircraft, which would make us incur more costs.
“We are fully set for Tuesday. Our aircraft and crew will leave about 4 o’clock and get to South Africa about 9 o’clock for the operations. We hope about 350 Nigerians are ready so that we will fly enough passengers, not to leave the aircraft empty.”
Also, bookings to South African Airways have reduced significantly since the xenophobic attacks started.
Checks with travel agencies in Nigeria revealed that the airline has suffered drastic reduction in flight bookings since the attacks increased.
A senator representing Enugu East Senatorial District, Chimaraoke Nnamani, yesterday called on the Federal Government to create a rehabilitation programme for Nigerian-returnee.
He urged well-meaning Nigerians, corporate and charity organisations to join in the rehabilitation efforts.
The lawmaker commended the management of Air Peace for the prompt intervention to rescue fellow citizens.
In a statement he issued in Abuja yesterday, the senator said he was particularly touched by the patriotism and uncommon spirit of brotherhood exhibited by Onyema and his team.
South Africa has been hit by a new spate of violence for the past few weeks. At least 12 people, including 10 South Africans and two foreigners, have reportedly been killed.
South Africa is host to some 274,000 refugees and asylum-seekers from African countries, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Xenophobia-related attacks are common in South Africa, where foreigners are blamed for taking up employment that should have been taken by locals.