WATCH LIVE | Nigerian president Buhari meets president Ramaphosa

A media briefing between  president Ramaphosa and his Nigerian counterpart is underway.  

President Muhammadu Buhari arrived in SA on Wednesday for a state visit after an outburst of xenophobic violence in and around Johannesburg stirred tensions between Africa's leading economic powerhouses.

Buhari and his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa will discuss bolstering trade ties and political cooperation as both struggle to kickstart their stuttering economies.

But the recent violence in SA targeting foreigners — including Nigerians — threatens to dominate the talks.

The three-day state visit, the first by a Nigerian leader since 2013, was planned before mobs descended on foreign-owned properties in and around Johannesburg in early September.

The violence — in which at least 12 people were killed — sparked fury in Nigeria and saw hundreds of migrant workers repatriated to the country.