By Ayobami Okerinde
The South African government has pushed back against Nigeria’s plan to seek compensation for properties abandoned by Nigerians fleeing recent xenophobic attacks, insisting that only legally registered assets can be recognised while controversially calling on Nigeria to identify alleged “drug dens” linked to its citizens.
South Africa’s Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, made the remarks during a press briefing on Friday.
According to a video of the briefing shared by Newzroom Afrika on X, Ntshavheni said legally acquired properties in South Africa are properly documented and remain under the ownership of their registered owners, who are free to sell them through the country’s property market.
“If you own a property in South Africa, it’s registered. If it’s a house, it’s registered with the Deeds Register. If you own a car, it’s registered in the NATIS system. If you own a business, it’s registered with the CIPC,” she said.
She maintained that Nigerians who legally own property in South Africa could dispose of such assets rather than seek compensation from the government.
“If you own a property in South Africa, those who leave their properties, if they are properly legally registered in the country, they can dispose of the properties in the property market in South Africa, whether it’s movable or immovable property,” she added.
The minister, however, stirred controversy by suggesting that the South African government would be interested in identifying locations allegedly used for drug-related activities by Nigerians.
“We’ll be interested to know where the drug dens of Nigerians are so they can show us where they’ve been holding the drugs so that we can clean the drugs in South Africa quite urgently,” Ntshavheni said.
She also ruled out compensation for structures located in informal settlements, describing them as illegal under South African law.
“Informal squatter camps and settlements are never properties because they are illegal in the country. So you are already violating our law if you tell us about a shack in an informal settlement. So there is no compensation that will come from government,” she said.
Her comments came days after the federal govenrment announced plans to seek compensation for citizens who lost access to businesses and property while fleeing anti-migrant violence in South Africa.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television on July 1, Acting Nigerian High Commissioner to South Africa, Temitope Ajayi, disclosed that affected Nigerians had been directed to compile detailed records of businesses and properties they left behind.
“In terms of the businesses, just three days ago, myself and the South African deputy minister of foreign affairs were together, and we were discussing this,” Ajayi said.
“I took up the discussion with her, and we have agreed that we are going to ask our people who are returning to begin to document what they are leaving behind.”
He explained that returnees had been instructed to provide detailed information about their abandoned assets before departing South Africa.
“I have asked them before they left yesterday to document very accurately those things they were leaving behind in terms of businesses, in terms of even cars, movable and immovable properties.
“…We are going to work with the South African government to get to the exact locations of all these businesses, shops and properties and present them to the South African government for possible compensation because we will not allow the labour people have suffered to build over the years to just go down the drain or be taken over by people,” he added.
Over 850 Nigerians evacuated
The Federal Government has so far evacuated more than 850 Nigerians from South Africa in four batches following the outbreak of xenophobic attacks.
Before the latest evacuation, 328 Nigerians had returned home in two batches. The first Air Peace flight, which arrived in Lagos on June 11, brought back 262 returnees, while a second batch of 66 arrived on June 25.
A third evacuation flight landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, on June 30, conveying about 271 Nigerians from Johannesburg.
The latest batch arrived on July 3, when an Air Peace charter flight brought back 268 Nigerians, alongside two officials and crew members.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, said the government remained committed to ensuring the safe return of Nigerians affected by the unrest while continuing diplomatic engagement with South African authorities over the crisis.
