Nigeria summons South African envoy over attacks on its nationals

During a march group in the capital, Pretoria, last week, foreign-owned businesses were urged to close in case of violence . At the time, one Nigerian man told BBC Pidgin: "It is not okay because we are blacks, we are brothers... everybody comes here just to survive." A security guard, who was unable to go to work because of the protest, told the BBC: "It's not what we expected as fellow Africans." "It's just making us scared - imagine if we're scared in our own African continent - what if we go to Europe?" he asked. Last month, Ghana summoned South Africa's top envoy after a video was widely shared showing a Ghanaian man being challenged to prove he had the correct immigration papers. Anti-immigrant sentiment rose earlier this year after reports that the head of the Nigerian community in the port city of KuGompo (formerly East London) had been installed in a traditional role that can be translated as "king". Some South Africans in the local area saw this as an attempt to grab political power. South Africa is home to about 2.4 million migrants, just less than 4% of the population, according to official figures. However, many more are thought to be in the country unofficially. Most come from neighbouring countries such as Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, which have a history of providing migrant labour to their wealthy neighbour. A smaller number come from Nigeria.

Additional reporting in Johannesburg You may also be interested in: Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent. Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica , on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica BBC Africa podcasts Nigeria South Africa Africa