The former President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, recently met with a delegation from Nigeria’s House of Representatives on xenophobic attacks on Nigerians.
The delegation led by the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, was received by the former South African leader in his office in Johannesburg, PUNCH reports.
According to a statement issued on Saturday by the media aide to Gbajabiamila, Olanrewaju Smart, the meeting was held behind closed doors for two hours, with both leaders expressing their commitments to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.
“I had a meeting with the delegation of members of parliament from Nigeria and that is pleasing when I heard the news that the delegation was coming.”
“It was important that they interacted with all these layers of South African society to address this particular matter which has been raised that South Africans are killing and beating up other Africans,” Mbeki said.
Speaking on the meeting, Gbajabiamila said, “As you are aware, we felt it was time that the parliament got in touch as we have been playing a less than proactive role in foreign relations over the years as parliamentarians.”
“So, we thought we should try something different in terms of a diplomatic approach. In addition, we decided to do some kind of fact-finding to see what can be done to arrest the situation and prevent a reoccurrence.