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Home Human Rights After Two Nigerians Killed by Police and Military, Ramaphosa’s Message Is “Respect Our Traditions

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After Two Nigerians Killed by Police and Military, Ramaphosa’s Message Is “Respect Our Traditions

West Africa WeeklyApril 28, 20262 Mins read15

President Cyril Ramaphosa used his Freedom Day address to warn South Africans against turning frustration over illegal migration into hatred for fellow Africans, but he made no mention of two Nigerian nationals killed by the country’s own security forces just days earlier. The president’s speech, delivered at the 2026 national commemoration in Bloemfontein, has been met with sharp criticism from Nigerian officials and human rights groups who say his words were dangerously inadequate given the context.

We should never allow the legitimate concerns of our communities about illegal migration to breed prejudice and hatred towards our fellow Africans, Ramaphosa said. It cannot be, and it must never be, that we trample into the dust the African fellowship that made our freedom possible.

He also warned that the government would not tolerate vigilante action, stating,

We will not allow people to take the law into their own hands.

Amid international outrage over xenophobic attacks, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa says, “respect us as South Africans, respect our laws, conventions and our traditions as you would want us to respect the laws and traditions of your own country.” pic.twitter.com/GaLB2IRJ97

— Kennedy Wandera (@KennedyWandera_) April 27, 2026

What Ramaphosa did not say was perhaps more telling. He did not name the two dead Nigerians. He did not offer condolences to their families or to the Nigerian government. He did not order an immediate investigation into the conduct of his own soldiers and police officers. Instead, he directed a firm message at legal immigrants already living in South Africa. “Respect us as South Africans, respect our laws, respect our conventions and our traditions, as you would want us to respect the laws and traditions of your own country,” he said.

South African police caught on camera harassing foreign nationals, telling them, “You are a foreign national, go back to your country”

How can you report brutality and harassment in South Africa when their police are the ones now targeting foreigners? https://t.co/SLXMQ5ZDLf pic.twitter.com/PlRXYjMaT2

— THEGRANDMABOY (@TheGrandmaBoy) April 27, 2026

The two victims have been identified by the Nigerian Consulate General in Johannesburg as Amaramiro Emmanuel and Ekpenyong Andrew. Emmanuel died after being severely beaten by personnel of the South African National Defence Force on April 20. Andrew was arrested by Tshwane Metro Police on April 19 and was later found dead in a mortuary. Consul General Ninikanwa Okey Uche has demanded a thorough investigation and justice for the families, saying, “Everyone should be presumed innocent and granted a fair hearing.”

A Nigerian human rights activist, Francis Nwapa, accused Ramaphosa of enabling rising xenophobic attacks through silence and failure to act decisively against perpetrators. “The president speaks about African fellowship while his own forces are killing our citizens,” Nwapa said. “Words about Ubuntu mean nothing when the bodies of your neighbours are lying in a foreign morgue because of your own state’s brutality.”

Critics argue that Ramaphosa’s address effectively equated the desperation of foreign nationals with the grievances of South Africans who feel overburdened. By lecturing legal immigrants on respect while failing to acknowledge state violence, the president sent a damaging signal. A Nigerian student in Johannesburg, who asked not to be named, told this reporter, “Imagine paying your taxes, following every rule, and then hearing your host president tell you to respect his traditions while soldiers beat your countryman to death. That is not leadership.”

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has condemned the violations of African solidarity principles, and pressure is mounting on Ramaphosa to move beyond words. As families in Nigeria mourn two men killed by the very forces meant to protect life, the president’s call for African fellowship rings hollow. What the moment demanded was accountability, justice, and a clear acknowledgment that his own state had blood on its hands. What South Africa got was a lecture on respect.