Nigeria in SA: Mzansi reacts to Ramaphosa's meeting with Buhari

04 October 2019 - 10:47 By Unathi Nkanjeni
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
President Cyril Ramaphosa meeting Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.
President Cyril Ramaphosa meeting Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.
Image: Twitter/@PresidencyZA

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari received a warm welcome from President Cyril Ramaphosa and other ministers as he kicked off his state visit to SA on Thursday.

This is the first state visit to be hosted by South Africa under the sixth administration.

It comes after an outburst of xenophobic attacks in and around Gauteng that stirred tensions between African countries.

TimesLIVE reported that the three-day state visit, the first by a Nigerian leader since 2013, was planned long before the attacks moved on to foreign-owned properties in and around Johannesburg in early September.

At the height of the attacks, Buhari said he was sending a special envoy to Ramaphosa to “share our deep concern about the security of Nigerian lives and property in South Africa”, and to ensure that the South African government was doing everything within its power in this regard.

Buhari's visit to SA was met with mixed reactions as some social media users questioned the “real” reason behind it.


subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now