“Nigerians are bringing crime to our country” – Debunking the lie used to rationalise xenophobia

As some African countries like Nigeria and Zambia battle to douse local tension and violence that have been generated as a result of xenophobic attacks in South Africa, it is necessary to refute one prevailing and persistent myth. It is the allegation by supporters of the Xenophobic attacks that foreigners in South Africa (in this case, Nigerians) commit crimes such as drug peddling in the country, and that it is due to this that these foreigners are being attacked. Comments like this, by some South Africans, are all over Facebook and Twitter, with some Nigerians even applauding and supporting them.

I am not South African and I am not defending them but they are fighting drug dealers who mostly turn out to be foreigners that is what caused all of this rage drugs are killing their children and loved ones, not that i condone how they are going about this issue.
— Raesima Royale®🇧🇼 (@karabo_raesima) September 3, 2019

The fact of the matter is most Nigerians in SA are drug dealers and don't respect our law, facts...we see them everyday pushing em narcotics reall hard everybody in SA know that, we live here remember
— Castro_phynix (@The_indigenous) September 2, 2019

This cannot be true, however. It may well be true that some Nigerians are involved in crime in South Africa—same would go for just about any nationality. However, it is not for this reason that South Africans are killing them and, it must be noted, nationals of other African states. It cannot be. The stats simply do not support this.

By accusing Nigerians of bringing crime to their country, these persons appear to paint a picture of a crime-free country that is now being destroyed by criminal and law-breaking immigrants. But this is not true because that is not what the figures show.

When you think of crime, what are the two most serious ones that come to mind? Of course, we may have different opinions on this but murder/homicide and rape should rank somewhere at the top of anyone’s list. Now, how does South Africa, this country of law-abiding citizens, now being ruined by Nigerians, fare on the global index for intentional homicide? The results may shock you.

According to estimates released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, South Africa is ranked 9th in the world for countries with the highest intentional homicide rate at over 20,000 for every 100,000 persons. Nigeria is 45th. Now let’s move over to rape. Here, there is barely any contest. South Africa is number one in the world for rape. You read that right. South Africa has been identified as having the highest rape rate since 2004.

Now the essence of this is not to paint South Africa in a bad light. Far from it. Every country has its peculiar challenges. Nigeria itself struggles with crime, security, and economic challenges. The point, however, is that it is a bit hypocritical, even outrightly ridiculous to kill Nigerians on the premise that they are peddling drugs and committing other crimes. Maybe if South Africa was not performing so woefully on the crimes index this argument may hold some water, but right now it doesn’t.

If they are really sincere about fighting crime, those, hopefully, few South Africans peddling this falsehood should, rather than resorting to killing foreigners, fish out the murderers and rapists from within their own midst.

They should also, whilst they are at it, do some soul searching. They should reflect on the value of human life. They should imbibe the spirit of pan-Africanism and embrace the principles of human rights.

Photo: James Wiseman