Let me first of all correct the notion that South Africans hate Nigerians, this is false, very wrong but I will get back to this.
The recent Xenophobia attacks started when allegedly the King of Zulu (alleged because I was not there) said the people should not wait for politicians before they chase out illegal immigrants back to their countries. This prompted locals of Kwazulu Natal to start looting foreign owned shops, in the process a South African woman was killed by a foreigner and this escalated the Xenophobia attacks.
These attacks were mainly in townships, which forced about 700 foreigners out of these affected areas. The South African government provided make shift accommodation for them.
Most foreigners that live in this townships are mostly foreigners that are on refugee status. In SA, we have a lot of these asylum seekers. It pains me personally when I see Nigerians going through harsh conditions to claim asylum. In the process of claiming this status, Nigerians lie and tarnish the image of Nigeria and a lot of South Africans know that these Nigerians are lying but they still approve their requests.
Back to the xenophobia attacks, most of these attacks are carried out by miscreants, who are in the minority and Nigerians are really not affected because you hardly find Nigerians living in the townships. Myself and my wife weren't even aware that it was serious until we started getting calls from Nigeria.
It escalated into the Central Business District of Kwazulu Natal (Durban) but in a swift response, the South African Police Service (SAPS) curbed the spread. In Durban's CBD, shops owned by South Africans too were targeted. There was apprehension that it was going to escalate to Johannesburg, yesterday, so a lot of shops in the CBD of Johannesburg were closed.
The president, Jacob Zuma has condemned it, South Africans on the streets have condemned it, more security agents have been deployed to the streets and peace seems to have been restored. Foreigners have been guaranteed safety by the SA government.
I said before that South Africans do not hate foreigners, actually they are warm people and I will give you reasons. I have schooled in SA, my wife too schooled in SA, a lot of scholarships and funding are giving to foreigners. How many African countries can do this? I have seen Nigerians going to the best schools in SA, from undergraduate level through to PHD level who enjoy absolutely free education, when I say absolutely free I mean it. This will include free accommodation and feeding. In some cases, some collect stipends.
A lot of Nigerians too abuse the hospitality and am so ashamed to say it. I won't even go into the dirty things which Nigerians do. I have been in a situation before that my wife suddenly took ill in the middle of the night and we rushed to a hospital, we got first class attention in a government hospital and it was free.
Yes, there are cases that as a Nigerian you feel that you are a foreigner, but seriously it is not anybody's fault. If you are an educated Nigerian and you schooled in SA, you are respected. If you have a white collar job, you are respected. A lot of Nigerians are Doctors, Lecturers, Engineers in SA. If Nigeria is right a lot of South African businesses want to move into Nigeria.
Also, a lot of Nigerians have married South Africans and you will see the spouses of the Nigerians ready to imbibe the Nigerian culture. This marriage issue, a lot of Nigerians too have abused it, Nigerians with wives at home have come to SA to marry for the sake of papers, some just marry for papers and a lot of South Africans are aware. The South Africans love our musicians and movies. The most popular station in SA (outside SABC) is African Magic because of. Nollywood.
In conclusion, have not heard of any Nigerian that was attacked in these recent clashes and I want to use this opportunity to thank those that contacted us to ask after our safety. We are fine!
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