Nigeria will repatriate about 600 citizens from South Africa this week following a wave of xenophobic violence that has sparked sharp exchanges between the two countries, a Nigerian diplomat said on Monday.

"They are about 600 now" to be flown back, Godwin Adamu, the Nigerian consul general in Johannesburg, told AFP.

A first flight will carry 320 Nigerians, he said, adding: "We will have another one immediately after that."