South Africa: Govt Pursues Compensation Over South Africa Attacks

What the report says

Vanguard, in a report distributed by AllAfrica and attributed to NAN, says Nigeria’s federal government is seeking compensation for citizens affected by recent attacks in South Africa, while continuing diplomatic engagement with Pretoria. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sola Enikanolaiye gave the update after briefing President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Tuesday, 29 July 2026.

According to the report, Enikanolaiye said the briefing followed Tinubu’s instruction to receive South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s special envoy and foreign minister, Ronald Lamola. The minister said Nigeria had secured commitments from South Africa, including activation of an early warning mechanism and the Nigeria-South Africa Bi-National Commission. He also told the president that about 1,490 Nigerians had been evacuated from South Africa after the attacks, with two evacuation batches funded by private individuals.

On compensation, Enikanolaiye said the government had started collecting information from Nigerians who lost property, using forms intended to establish the scale of losses before claims are presented. He said some Nigerians still wanted to return home and that officials were looking at ways to finance additional evacuation operations.

The minister said Tinubu viewed the violence as “Afrophobic” rather than only xenophobic and wanted African countries to confront such attacks collectively. He added that Nigeria preferred negotiation and diplomacy but was not without other options if talks failed. The report also noted Enikanolaiye’s position that Nigerians in South Africa deserved legal protection regardless of immigration status, underscoring the human rights and bilateral implications of the issue.