A South African woman who identified herself as Thabile Sibeko, president of the little-known Inizwe Nathi Party, sparked outrage on Wednesday after describing Nigerians as “horrible” while bidding farewell to evacuees at an airport in South Africa.
The incident occurred as the first batch of 262 Nigerians, mostly women and children, landed at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Thursday morning. They were repatriated following weeks of anti-foreigner violence that has convulsed parts of South Africa.
Speaking to journalists, Sibeko said: “I’m here to bid farewell to Nigeria, to make sure that they are leaving our country and to say to them bye-bye, Nigeria. Thank you for all you contributed to our country. We did not appreciate the wrongs that you have done, and we hope that you have learned a lesson.”
She alleged that Nigerians were responsible for drug problems in South Africa, claiming: “Today we’ve got zombies in our streets as our children because of them, and that has cut deep in our hearts and that has made us to resent them with all that we have.” She added, “Nigeria is horrible, these people are horrible.
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They’ve killed our children with drugs, and that is the reason why we are so strong on Nigeria because of their behaviour.”
Sibeko, however, drew a distinction between Nigerians and other foreign nationals, saying “to others we say thank you for being here, especially those who took care of our country.”
The Inizwe Nathi Party could not be independently verified as a registered political party in South Africa. A search of the Electoral Commission database returned no results for the party.
The repatriation exercise followed weeks of xenophobic attacks, with gangs armed with sticks, whips and shields marching through parts of the country and demanding that undocumented foreigners leave by June 30. A second flight carrying the remaining Nigerians from a group of 586 processed for repatriation is scheduled for June 15.
South Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, described the deportations as routine immigration enforcement, noting that removals had increased by 46% over the past two years. Nigerian officials, however, maintained that the returnees were fleeing xenophobic attacks.
Over 1,000 Nigerians had registered for voluntary return, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The remarks have triggered widespread condemnation online, with many Nigerians calling the comments hateful and divisive at a time when diplomatic efforts are ongoing to protect citizens abroad.
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