Viral videos circulating on social media have shown incidents of hostility by some South Africans toward African immigrants, sparking renewed concerns over xenophobic tensions in parts of the country.
Gatekeepers News reports that in one widely shared clip, a group of South Africans confronted a Ghanaian man, questioning his presence in the country and his decision to migrate.
“This thing of you guys moving from one country to the other, it’s no longer working,” a woman in the group said. “We don’t want these African people anymore. We’re tired of seeing African migrants moving all over the world, refusing to fix your own countries. Now we’re making it very clear to you guys: we don’t want you here, we want you to fix your countries.”
She further argued that migrants should not integrate into South African communities, saying, “You came here with a travelling document, you came with a passport. You know that you’re a visitor, now you’ve decided to integrate into our communities. You know very well what you’re doing is wrong. We can’t come to Ghana and do what you’re doing.”
In the same video, a male participant questioned the legality of the Ghanaian’s documents, accusing him of fraud and urging him to warn other Ghanaians to leave South Africa before facing attacks.
Another clip showed a separate incident in which a Ghanaian man was reportedly assaulted by some South Africans. In yet another video, a man was seen recording himself at night criticising foreign nationals, saying they “sleep comfortably in their homes while we, the South Africans, are out here in the cold” and insisting that “they must go back to their countries.”
The videos, which began trending on Tuesday, come as residents of Mthatha in the Eastern Cape province prepare for a planned protest on Thursday over rising concerns about foreign nationals and limited job opportunities for locals.
Ghana raises alarm, calls for calm
Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Ablakwa, described the footage as “extremely disturbing” and confirmed diplomatic engagement with South African authorities.
Ablakwa said he spoke with South Africa’s Foreign Minister, Ronald Lamola, who “expressed his empathy with the victims and promised full scale investigations into the depressing incidents.”
He also confirmed that Ghana’s High Commission in South Africa had located the victim in the viral video and was providing consular assistance.
“He is doing very well. No Ghanaian life has been lost. We urge calm and confidence in our collective capacity to protect Ghanaians,” he said.
Ablakwa added: “We are determined to guarantee the protection of all citizens. May these regrettable incidents never quench our Pan-African love and solidarity for each other. The overwhelming majority of Africans are united and share an unbreakable bond — we shall not be divided by the hatred of a few fringe elements.”
Concerns ahead of planned protests
Meanwhile, ahead of the planned demonstrations in Mthatha, Yirenyi Darko, chairman of the Ghanaian community in the town, raised concerns about the safety of foreign nationals, particularly Nigerians and Zimbabweans.
“We are only trusting God for protection. For now, in the Eastern Cape, it is not as extreme as in other provinces, and there has not been recent harassment in Mthatha. But generally, the situation remains worrying,” he said.
Darko urged foreign nationals to remain cautious and take necessary steps to ensure their safety as tensions continue to rise.
