South Africa Rejects Nigeria’s Bid For Compensation Over Xenophobic Violence

South Africa has firmly turned down Nigeria’s push for compensation on behalf of citizens who left businesses and property behind while fleeing renewed anti-migrant violence.

Nigerian officials had been building a case for weeks. Acting High Commissioner Temitope Ajayi confirmed that Abuja had started cataloguing losses reported by Nigerians returning home, with an eye toward raising the matter formally with Pretoria.

But South Africa’s Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, shut the door on that idea at a press briefing on Friday. Her argument centered on property law: anything legally registered — homes filed with the Deeds Register, vehicles logged in the NATIS system — remains under its owner’s control and can simply be sold on the open market. Structures in informal settlements, she said, don’t qualify for compensation at all, since the settlements themselves are unlawful.

She didn’t stop there. Ntshavheni also challenged Nigeria to help identify what she called drug-related operations tied to some Nigerian nationals in the country, framing it as a trade South Africa would welcome.

Beyond the compensation dispute, Ntshavheni said Pretoria has signed off on new measures meant to stop informal settlements from springing back up once they’re cleared.

The dispute is unfolding against a backdrop of mass departures. More than 850 Nigerians have now been flown home across four evacuation flights since violence flared: 262 on June 11, 66 on June 25, roughly 271 on June 30, and 268 more on July 3. Nigeria’s government has framed the compensation push as a new front in its response — a shift from past crises, when diplomatic efforts focused mainly on evacuation and safety guarantees rather than financial accountability.

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