Ghana summons South Africa’s envoy over ‘xenophobic incidents’

Republic of Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa (Photo by Tetiana DZHAFAROVA / AFP)

Ghana summoned South Africa’s envoy over several “xenophobic incidents”, including one in which a legal Ghanaian migrant was asked to return home and “fix his country”.

South Africa, the continent’s most industrialised economy, has long been a destination for both legal and undocumented African workers.

But now saddled with an unemployment rate of over 30 percent, it has seen repeated spurts of xenophobic and anti-migrant protests, and occasionally violence.

Videos online have circulated in recent days showing Ghanaians being harassed.

Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa spoke of an incident in KwaZulu-Natal province in which a Ghanaian, “a legal resident was confronted… (and) instructed to leave South Africa and ‘fix his country,'” the foreign ministry said in a statement late Thursday.

It also further warned of “escalating tensions, with foreign nationals, including Ghanaians, being advised to remain indoors for their safety”.

In his meeting with South Africa’s acting high commissioner Thando Dalamba, Ablakwa “underscored… Ghana’s support for the anti-apartheid struggle” and “emphasised that the unprovoked harassment and attacks on law-abiding individuals are contrary to the principles of African solidarity”.

There are around 2.4 million foreign-born people in South Africa, according to official statistics from 2022, or about four percent of the population.

AFP