The South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa has said the attacks on foreigners in South Africa, including Nigerians, were regrettable.
Ramaphosa assured that his government will work hard to see an end to such attacks.
He said this while fielding questions from reporters during a press conference at the Union Building in Pretoria, alongside President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ramaphosa stated that Buhari was the first president to embark on a state visit in South Africa since they came into power.
He said: “We will work together to promote cohesion and best values. What happened did not reflect our values. We both condemn the attacks and the reprisal in strongest terms. We will set up mechanisms for early signals.”
Ramaphosa said his country will also create a more enabling environment for Nigerian businesses to thrive in South Africa, acknowledging that more South African companies operate in Nigeria, while Nigerians were mostly in Small and Medium Scale sectors in his country.
“We have large corporations operating in Nigeria while you have small and medium enterprises from Nigeria here in South Africa.” He promised to deepen the reforms in his country to open the space for more Nigerian business to “address the imbalance”.
“The rule of law must be obeyed by all citizens. Nigerians in South Africa must obey the rule of law, while South Africans in Nigeria must obey the rule of law,’’ he said.
