Nigeria-South Africa relations and the politics of xenophobia in post-Apartheid South Africa

Abstract

This study is offered as a potential contribution to the ongoing efforts geared at addressing the politics of xenophobia in Africa with a view to improving the strategic relations and partnership between Nigeria and South Africa given their strategic importance to the continent. To achieve this, both qualitative and case-study methodological techniques were adopted in carrying out the study. Data were therefore scooped from both primary and secondary sources which, among others, included the South African High Commission and the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Findings reveal however that the motivation for the xenophobic politics is chiefly economic and driven by competition over limited scarce socioeconomic resources. This study recommends that government must be particularly interested in addressing the disempowering socioeconomic conditions of the black South African community and endeavor to bridge the widening socioeconomic gaps between the rich white South African community and the poor black South African community in order to arrest further possible deterioration of diplomatic and citizens’ relations between the two states.