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Nigeria’s foreign ministry has detailed the killings of Emeka Charles Iroegbu and Musa Yunana Joe on June 28 as part of a disturbing pattern of violence against foreigners in South Africa. Iroegbu was reportedly killed by officers from the Tshwane Metro police department in Pretoria through what the ministry described as gruesome interrogation techniques while Joe died after an attack by unidentified assailants outside his shop in eMalahleni. According to the ministry’s statement the incidents occurred at a time when foreigners are being unduly targeted and Abuja has placed the South African government on notice that all options remain on the table if the trend of intolerance continues. The ministry further indicated it had begun documenting businesses and properties left behind by Nigerians who have departed.
South African cabinet minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni stated during a media briefing that her government would not pay compensation for affected properties which could instead be sold on the local market. Ntshavheni added that authorities would be interested to know where the drug dens of Nigerians are so they can show us where they have been holding the drugs so we can clean the drugs in South Africa quite urgently. Nigeria’s foreign ministry condemned the remarks as unacceptable in its July 5 statement describing such derogatory unprofessional and uncensored generalised public statements by highly placed government officials as hate speech. The exchange has heightened diplomatic tensions between the two nations.
Al Jazeera reported that Nigeria has repatriated hundreds of its citizens from South Africa with more than 1,000 registering to leave voluntarily following threats associated with anti-immigration protests. The foreign ministry figures show roughly 700 Nigerians were among some 25,000 citizens from other African countries repatriated by their governments amid the unrest. Anti-migrant groups had set a June 30 deadline for undocumented foreigners to depart which accelerated evacuations by nations including Ghana and Malawi. A CNN assessment found that some migrants received direct threats such as leave or return in a coffin prompting many to flee despite police assurances that violence would not be tolerated.
Statistics South Africa data places the official unemployment rate at 32.7 percent in the first quarter of 2026 with the expanded rate that includes discouraged job seekers climbing to 43.7 percent and more than 8.1 million people out of work. The agency figures show youth employment remains particularly strained with millions of young South Africans aged 15 to 34 either unemployed or outside the labor force. Protesters have cited job competition and perceived overuse of public services by foreigners as key grievances according to multiple reports from the period. A Human Rights Watch review linked the economic pressures to heightened xenophobic activism in recent years.
Human Rights Watch documented new waves of xenophobic attacks in April and May 2026 carried out by vigilante groups such as March and March with limited apparent intervention from police in cities including Pretoria Johannesburg and Durban. The organization noted that since the 2008 violence which killed at least 62 people including many foreign nationals South Africa has experienced recurring outbreaks in 2015 2019 and 2021 through 2022 often targeting African migrants. Xenowatch statistics record hundreds of incidents concentrated in Gauteng province with cumulative attacks since 1994 exceeding 500 in that region alone. The latest June killings fit into this pattern according to Nigerian consular statements reported by Premium Times.
A Reuters compilation of South African police data indicated at least 12 people died in 2019 xenophobic unrest with hundreds of businesses looted while similar patterns have emerged in 2026. The Nigerian consulate in Johannesburg condemned the recent deaths as deeply disturbing and demanded thorough investigations into both cases. Officials from Abuja have accused South African authorities of failing to curb the violence forcefully enough as detailed in Al Jazeera coverage of the diplomatic fallout. Regional observers have called for stronger bilateral measures to address the underlying issues driving the repeated outbreaks.
