South African police have condemned xenophobic attacks targeting Ghanaian nationals and other African residents amid a renewed wave of violence that has prompted Ghana’s government to begin evacuating an initial 300 Ghanaian nationals from the country. Ghana’s Ambassador to South Africa Benjamin Quashie confirmed the voluntary repatriation programme this week, while Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa pledged that no Ghanaian abroad in distress would be abandoned.
The diplomatic fallout is escalating fast. Nigerian Senator Adams Oshiomhole called for Nigeria to nationalise MTN and other South African companies operating in Nigeria, arguing that “Nigerian lives are more important than investment.” A separate Ghanaian returnee, Emmanuel Akowuah Asamoah, returned home on May 5 over safety concerns and has since become a focal point of media coverage. Pretoria, Accra, and Abuja are all working through diplomatic and consular channels, with arrangements being made to ensure the safe return of additional Ghanaians in dire situations. South Africa’s tourism sector is being asked to absorb the reputational pressure even as recent statistics show arrivals reaching 10.5 million in 2025.
For the African diaspora — and for the Caribbean diaspora communities that maintain ties with both West and Southern Africa — the wave of xenophobic violence raises again the structural unresolved questions about African migrant integration, employment access, and policing in South Africa. The pattern has recurred at intervals since the 2008 attacks, with each cycle producing both immediate displacement and lasting diplomatic strain across the African Union. The current cycle has already shifted public discourse in Ghana and Nigeria around the structural sustainability of African economic integration.
Sources: MyJoyOnline, May 12-13, 2026; GhanaWeb; YEN.com.gh.