Ghana delays evacuation of 800 citizens from South Africa amid xenophobic tensions

Ghana announced on Thursday it has delayed the evacuation of more than 800 of its citizens from South Africa after a viral video showing the assault of a Ghanaian man triggered outrage across the diaspora.

The footage showing the attack on Emmanuel Asamoah, a Ghanaian living in South Africa, circulated widely on social media during the latest wave of xenophobic violence targeting foreign nationals in the country.

Some 800 Ghanaians were to be evacuated starting Thursday, but the process was delayed because of the large numbers of evacuees and legal clearance procedures required by South Africa, the Ghanaian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Logistical hurdles

"Considering the numbers involved and the South African legal conditions that have to be met, including mandatory passenger screening, multi-institutional coordination and flight permits, the planned evacuation has been deferred by a few days," the ministry said.

It added that Ghanaian and South African authorities had agreed to accelerate the process. The Ghanaian foreign ministry said earlier this month that it was evacuating citizens from South Africa as a result of renewed xenophobic attacks.

Repeat harassment

In a fresh incident this week, South African activist Victoria Africa, popularly known as Queen Vee, shared another video allegedly confronting and harassing a Ghanaian woman. The woman, whose face was censored in the footage, was heard pleading with those recording not to publish the video, noting that she will soon be evacuated from the country.

The incident comes days after Asamoah was evacuated following a similar viral confrontation involving the same activist. President John Dramani Mahama has approved the evacuation, and the government has promised to give those evacuated a re-integration financial package and psycho-social support.

Continental reckoning

Earlier this month, Ghana's foreign minister said he had formally petitioned that "the South African xenophobic attacks targeted at Africans be placed on the agenda" at the AU's mid-year meeting due next month.

Ghana has increasingly pushed for the issue to receive broader continental attention, arguing that recurring attacks threaten African integration and free movement ambitions under frameworks such as the African Continental Free Trade Area.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa last week moved to reassure other African countries, saying "opportunists" had orchestrated anti-immigrant attacks and that "there is no place in South Africa for xenophobia."

Asamoah, the man in the first viral video, has since returned safely to Ghana. The latest tensions have revived uncomfortable debates across Africa about xenophobia, migration, and the gap between pan-African rhetoric and realities facing African migrants on the continent.

Reporting drawn from Channels Television, Ghanamma, Pulse Ghana, Citizen Digital.