October 4, 2019//-Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday began a visit to South Africa with a call to beef up protection of foreign nationals, weeks after xenophobic attacks in Johannesburg stirred tension between Africa’s leading economies.
Buhari and his counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa went into long-planned talks aimed at bolstering trade ties and political cooperation as both leaders struggle to boost their flagging economies.
But the talks were expected to be overshadowed by the violence in South Africa targeting foreigners, which included Nigerians.
Mobs descended on foreign-owned stores in and around Johannesburg in early September, destroying properties and looting.
“We call for the strengthening and implementation of all the necessary measures to prevent the re-occurrence of such actions,” Buhari said at the start of the talks.
AFP
