South African women narrate discrimination faced for being married to Nigerians

A group of women who have named themselves as The United Nigerian Wives in South Africa, UNWISA, has opened up on the kind of treatment they get from their fellow kinsmen for being married to Nigerian men in South Africa.Speaking on the issue of the xenophobic attack, the chairman of the group, Mrs Lindwela Uche who is in her early 40s told AFP that they were aware of the recent attacks and had warned their foreign husband but that they took their warning for granted.

“We saw this thing coming and that’s why we formed this association. If only they (the authorities) had listened to us… they would have known that there’s a fire burning slowly and they would have seen how to tackle it.” She narrated.
Another woman in the association,Lufunu Orji who is married to a Nigerian Resources Consultant, Ogbonnaya Orji, narrated that being married to a foreign husband is not an easy life to live.

“Being married to a foreigner is very challenging. You often spend your time defending yourself and then you defend your foreign husband for being himself. Just before I got wed to my husband, I lost two very best friends of mine. They thought I was out of my mind” she said.

Another woman- Mrs Uche disclosed that her 13-year-old daughter, few days back had returned from school complaining of being discriminated because of her nationality, adding that her daughter’s teacher had told her “not to bring that Nigerian mentality here” after she and classmates were noisy in class.

“We need to be protected, we need our children to be protected… and our husbands to be treated with dignity,” Uche said
Another woman -Thelma Okoro disclosed that the attitude towardS South African women who are married to Nigerian men are negative everywhere they go, adding that wearing Nigeria traditional attire on the street attracts negative comments.
The 37-year-old lady also spoke on the danger her child faces at school, saying she is being mocked because of her name which is Ngozi which means blessing in Igbo, but means Danger in Zulu.