South Africa has temporarily closed its embassy in Nigeria after threats led to fears for staff safety, Foreign Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor told Reuters, after attacks this week on foreign-owned businesses in South Africa caused a diplomatic spat.
She said South Africa was in constant contact with Nigerian authorities to try to restore calm, adding there was no provision in local law for compensation for damage caused in the attacks.
“There is an Afrophobia we are sensing that exists, there is resentment and we need to address that,” Pandor said on the sidelines of a continental economic conference in Cape Town.
