Ghana Pushes AU Action Over South Africa Anti Immigrant Violence

(John Mahama. Photo by Vangaurd News)

John Mahama, the president of Ghana, reiterated on Thursday his demand that the African Union take action against the recent, “escalating” waves of anti-immigrant violence in South Africa.

Pretoria has rejected the two Ghanaians’ request for the International Criminal Court to look into “repeated xenophobic attacks” in South Africa as “opportunistic.”

Weeks of rallies and turmoil against immigrants, who are accused of stealing jobs and resources, have rattled South Africa, a country that has long attracted both legal and illegal African laborers.

More than 160,000 foreign nationals have reportedly left South Africa, with several others k!lled over the past two months, as local groups intensified violent hostility toward undocumented migrants, a development that has placed strain on Pretoria’s relations with other African governments.

Ghana was the first to push for the issue to be debated by the African Union, with President Mahama disclosing in May that the AU Commission chairperson, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, had acknowledged the urgent need to table the matter for discussion at the bloc’s next summit scheduled for February next year.

In a social media post on Thursday, Mahama stated that placing the matter on the AU’s agenda would give South Africa a formal and constructive platform to present its position, allowing the continent to work collectively toward a lasting solution.

On Wednesday, Mahama held discussions with the AU chief on the sidelines of an AU meeting in Accra, where he remarked that South African authorities did not appear to be responding to the situation with the level of seriousness one would expect.

He further alleged that those funding the xenophobic att@cks were known individuals who had been allowed to continue their actions unchecked, in comments broadcast by Ghanaian media.

He called on the AU to take a keen interest in the matter, warning that it had the potential to undermine everything the continent had worked to achieve, including African solidarity and integration. He, however, maintained that Ghana harboured no ill will toward South Africa.

Earlier in the month, Ghana had postponed a planned visit by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to Accra following the d£ath of a Ghanaian national, although South African authorities clarified that the k!lling was not connected to the ongoing anti-immigrant protests.