South Africa's Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mmamoloko Kubayi, refused Sunday to apologize to Nigerians over a Cabinet colleague's comment demanding to know the location of Nigerian "drug dens."
This was after Nigeria Info FM's Ireti Bakare-Yusuf pressed the issue during a government migration briefing in Pretoria.
The exchange stemmed from remarks made earlier this month by Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, who, responding to Nigeria's push for compensation over property Nigerians abandoned during recent xenophobic attacks, said South Africa would rather be shown where Nigerians were "holding the drugs so that we can clean the drugs in South Africa quite urgently."
At Sunday's briefing of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration, held at Tshedimosetso House, Bakare-Yusuf, who hosts Nigeria Info's Borderlines program, read the quote back to Kubayi and asked directly whether Ntshavheni would apologize.
She pointed out that Nigerians in South Africa work as doctors, lawyers and other professionals.
“Do you think making statements like that is smart, and again I ask, would you like to apologise to Nigerians because I'm a Nigerian sitting in front of you and I can assure you that I don't do drugs, neither does my father, neither do my friends,” Bakare-Yusuf said.
“In fact, the vast majority of Nigerians here are doctors.
“I've asked the question, but I have to state this: Nigerians are doctors, Nigerians are immigration lawyers, Nigerians do all sorts of other things, but you chose to talk about drugs; why?”
Kubayi declined, saying Ntshavheni had spoken in her official capacity and had not accused an entire nationality of criminality.
Kubayi said the comments reflected complaints South Africans themselves had raised about drug activity in areas like Hillbrow and Sunnyside, and asked that any formal grievance from Nigeria be routed through diplomatic channels via the Department of International Relations and Cooperation rather than raised at a press briefing.
In footage that is going viral in South Africa, a South African official later walked up to Bakare-Yusuf, threatening to remove her from the briefing over her question to Kubayi.
The confrontation adds to weeks of strained relations between Abuja and Pretoria following waves of xenophobic violence that have forced Nigerians to flee businesses and homes in South Africa, with the federal government evacuating more than 1,000 citizens in four batches.
Nigeria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously described Ntshavheni's original remark as inflammatory and unacceptable, and she has stood by the comment despite domestic criticism in Nigeria.
Sunday's briefing also provided an update on South Africa's broader repatriation drive, with officials reporting that 53,449 migrants have been repatriated so far, roughly 80% of them Malawian nationals.
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