The Government of Ghana has summoned the South African High Commissioner to Ghana, Lulu Xingwana, to assure it of the safety of Ghanaians in South Africa in the wake of vicious xenophobic attacks on Africans in that country.
Reports of xenophobic attacks in South Africa have heightened over the last three days. Nigerians, Ghanaians and other African nationals have complained of rising violence against them.
The attackers accuse the foreigners of taking over their jobs and increasing crimes in their neighborhoods.
The attacks come just weeks after it was reported that Nigerian-owned properties— which some alleged were being used for drug dealing and trafficking – were torched in the Johannesburg suburb of Rosetenville, reported Okayafrica.com.
The invasion spread to Pretoria where foreign-owned shops were looted overnight on Monday, February 20, 2017.
Speaking Thursday, February 23, on the Morning Starr, Ghana’s Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway said the situation in South Africa is being monitored keenly and that the Ghanaian mission in Pretoria is on top of the issue.
She said as at Wednesday, February 22, 2017, the mission visited shops owned by Ghanaians in the country to ensure that they are safe. She said a hotline has been set up to deal with any emergency cases should it occur.
“A lot of engagement has taken place between the mission and Ghanaians [and] we are closely monitoring the situation,” she told host of Morning Starr, Francis Abban.
That notwithstanding, she added, she had asked the South African High Commissioner to Ghana to be contacted to get her assurance that “our nationals will be safe.”
