South Africa Rejects Nigeria’s Compensation Demand Over Attacks

South Africa has firmly rejected Nigeria’s compensation demand tied to renewed xenophobic attacks against migrants. Officials in Pretoria say no government funds will go toward citizens who abandoned their businesses and properties while fleeing the recent violence.

Nigeria had already started building its case. Acting High Commissioner Temitope Ajayi confirmed earlier this week that officials began documenting losses suffered by affected Nigerians. That documentation, according to Ajayi, would form the basis for future compensation talks with South African authorities.

However, those talks appear to have hit a wall almost immediately. South Africa’s Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, dismissed the entire proposal during a press briefing on Friday. She insisted that government funds simply wouldn’t flow toward properties left behind by fleeing migrants.

Why South Africa Rejected the Compensation Demand

Ntshavheni broke her reasoning into two categories. First, she pointed to legally registered properties, which she said remain protected under normal property law. Owners of such properties, she explained, can still sell them through South Africa’s open market—movable or immovable, it doesn’t matter.

Second, and more pointedly, she addressed informal settlements. According to her, structures built in squatter camps hold no legal standing whatsoever. Because these settlements violate existing law, she argued, no compensation framework could ever apply to them.

She didn’t shy away from harsher language either. Ntshavheni challenged Nigerian officials to disclose locations tied to alleged drug activity within these communities. “We’ll be interested to know where the drug dens of Nigerians are,” she said, adding that authorities want that information urgently.

Her comments went further still. She described squatter camps and informal settlements as inherently illegal, meaning residents technically violate the law simply by living there. Consequently, she said, telling government officials about a shack in an informal settlement changes nothing legally.

No Compensation Coming, Minister Confirms

Beyond the drug den comments, Ntshavheni reiterated her core message multiple times. Government compensation, she stressed, simply isn’t happening—not for shacks, not for informal housing, not under any circumstances tied to this situation.

She did leave room for legally registered property owners, though. Those individuals retain full rights to dispose of their assets normally, whether through sale or transfer within South Africa’s existing property market. This distinction, she suggested, separates lawful property rights from informal claims that never carried legal weight in the first place.

Interestingly, Ntshavheni also revealed new government measures designed to stop informal settlements from reappearing after demolition. This detail suggests South African authorities plan a broader crackdown, not just a one-off rejection of Nigeria’s specific request.

Renewed Violence Sparked the Exodus

All of this stems from a fresh wave of xenophobic violence targeting African migrants across South Africa. The unrest pushed many Nigerians to leave the country entirely, driven largely by safety concerns rather than economic ones.

Photos from Durban on June 30 captured members of the Amabutho, a Zulu regiment, marching with South African flags during demonstrations organized by the “March and March” movement. That protest marked an unofficial deadline set by citizen-led groups, demanding that undocumented foreign nationals leave the country by that date.

Police responded by deploying heavily across affected areas, aiming to prevent looting and further unrest. Still, hundreds of foreign nationals sought refuge in multiple cities, scrambling for help to leave South Africa altogether. The scale of displacement highlights just how serious this latest round of tension became, even before Nigeria’s compensation demand entered the conversation.

Returnees Face Stigma Back Home

For Nigerians who’ve already returned home, the challenges haven’t necessarily ended. Many now report facing stigma, with some even labelled criminals despite having left South Africa simply to escape violence. This adds another layer of difficulty for families already dealing with lost income, abandoned property, and disrupted lives.

Given South Africa’s firm stance, it seems unlikely Nigeria’s compensation demand will gain traction anytime soon. Diplomatic conversations may continue, but Ntshavheni’s comments suggest little appetite within South African government circles for financial settlements tied to informal housing losses.

Whether Nigeria pursues alternative diplomatic channels remains to be seen. For now, though, the message from Pretoria couldn’t be clearer: legally registered property owners can sell their assets, but no government compensation will follow anyone who lived in informal settlements before fleeing the unrest.

This latest clash adds to a string of tense exchanges between the two countries in recent years, particularly around migration, xenophobia, and how African nations treat each other’s citizens abroad. As both governments navigate the fallout, affected families continue waiting for clarity—and, in many cases, for some form of justice that still feels distant.