Special envoy of President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa told President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja today, September 17, that the violent attacks on citizens of other Africans in South Africa did not represent the value system of the generality of the the country.
The envoy, Jeff Radebe that said he was apologizing on behalf of his President for what he called acts of criminality and violence that recently occurred in that country.
He emphasized that such attitude “does not represent our value system, nor those of the larger number of South Africans.”
He said that South Africa is an integral part of Africa, and is fully committed to peace and integration of the continent.
The special envoy said that 10 people died during the attacks, explaining that two of them were Zimbabweans while eight were South Africans, saying that there was no Nigerian casualty.
He stressed that South Africa remains eternally grateful for the role Nigeria played in ending apartheid, and hoped that the coming visit of the Nigerian President would solidify relationship between the two countries once again.
President Buhari took his time to explain to the special envoy the critical roles Nigeria played in the fight against Apartheid in South Africa.
He said that he was a junior military officer to Generals Murtala Mohammed and Olusegun Obasanjo, who were military heads of state at different times in the mid to late 1970s.
“Going back to historical antecedents, we made great sacrifices for South Africa to become a free state. I was a junior officer to General Murtala Muhammad, and General Olusegun Obasanjo. They were not operating in a democracy, but they got Nigerians to support them in the bid to see a free South Africa.
“Our leadership was quite committed to the cause. We made sacrifices, which younger people of today may not know. During my last visit to South Africa with the late President Robert Mugabe, it was very emotional, as Mugabe spoke about Nigeria’s contribution to free South Africa.”
The President extended appreciation to President Ramaphosa, through the special envoy “for coming to explain to us what happened in South Africa recently, leading to killing and displacement of foreigners.”
President Buhari responded to profuse apologies from the South African President, pledging that relationship between the two countries “will be solidified,” while describing the xenophobic attacks as “very unfortunate.”
