Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Benjamin Quarshie, has urged South Africans to exercise restraint and respect over verbal attacks targeting President John Dramani Mahama and Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
Speaking in an interview with DW Africa on Sunday, May 24, on the recent wave of xenophobic violence and measures taken to evacuate Ghanaians, Quarshie described the conduct of some South Africans as “deeply troubling,” especially coming from individuals “who should know better.”
The High Commissioner said he had listened with concern to public comments in South Africa where Ghanaian leaders were being insulted with language he described as unprintable.
“You hear people in South Africa, people that should know better, using very unprintable words on our President in Ghana and the foreign affairs minister,” Quarshie said. “Let me sound a word of caution — it is not that we are timid, not that we cannot say the same things that they are saying.”
While acknowledging that South Africans have the right to free expression within their own country, he drew a clear line at extending those attacks to Ghana’s head of state and senior officials.
“You can do whatever you want to do in South Africa, but we beg them – don’t bring our President into this.”
Quarshie cautioned that continued provocation could erode Ghana’s current diplomatic restraint.
He noted that Accra had deliberately chosen dialogue and quiet diplomacy over public retaliation, but said that patience had limits.
“It will get to a point that when the Ghanaian wants to use the same words, we will not be able to stop them,” he said.
The High Commissioner referenced similar insults that have been directed at South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in recent weeks, but stressed that Ghana’s leaders should remain off-limits.
“I heard people calling him [Cyril Ramaphosa] names, unprintable names, but don’t bring it on any Ghanaian leader,” he stated.
Quarshie attributed Ghana’s measured response to its civic culture and long-standing commitment to resolving disputes through diplomatic channels rather than public confrontation.
“We are taught civically to respect authority and that is exactly why we have kept quiet — and that’s exactly why we want to solve this thing diplomatically,” he added.
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