South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa has attributed the persistent killing of Nigerians in his country to criminality and not xenophobia, vowing to bring perpetrators to book.

Ramaphosa stated this while responding to a journalist’s question during a joint press conference he held with President Muhammadu Buhari after their closed-door meeting in Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja.

 While acknowledging the role played by Nigeria towards ending apartheid rule in his country, Ramaphosa said it would be wrong to assume that Nigerians were being targeted as a result of xenophobia, as according to him, South Africans do not hate Nigerians.

Ramaphosa explained that the high level of unemployment in South Africa which he puts at 9 million has resulted to crimes that involve and affect citizens and foreigners alike.

“There has been quite a number of incidences in our country where foreign nationals, some of whom are Nigerians have lost their lives and are being attacked.

“I will like to say here and now that, that has been as a result of criminal activity among our own people which we are focusing on from a criminal element point of view.

“I want to state here and now that South Africans do not have any form of negative disposition or hatred towards Nigerians and in the main Nigerians in South Africa and a number of places of our country live side by side, they cooperate very well and  some are in the corporate structures of our various companies and some are traders and some are into a number of things.

“So, I want to dispel this notion that when a Nigerian loses his or her life in South Africa, it is as a result of an intentional action by South Africans against Nigerians. That is simply not true.

While describing the situation as disturbing and capable of hurting the recently-signed Continental Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) aimed at deepening intra-African commerce, Ramaphosa said his administration had begun tackling the xenophobic killings in order to guarantee sustained peace and progress on the continent.