President John Dramani Mahama has called on the African Union (AU) to take a more active interest in the recurring xenophobic attacks in South Africa, describing the situation as a threat to African integration.
Speaking during a meeting with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), H.E. Mahamoud Ali Youssou, at the Jubilee House in Accra on Wednesday, July 22, President Mahama said the attacks could no longer be ignored and required a coordinated response from the AU.
He highlighted the financial burden Ghana has incurred in evacuating its citizens from South Africa, saying the scale and impact of the attacks warranted continental attention.
“At a very high cost to us, we had to charter planes to go to South Africa to evacuate our citizens. We operated three charter flights, and we are operating another three because there are still about 900 who have signed up to come back home.
“We’ve had to pay them reintegration fees and allowances. I think that the AU should take an interest in this issue because it has the potential to wreck everything that we have worked for in terms of African integration and solidarity. We’re hoping to put it on the agenda of the next AU meeting,” he said.
President Mahama described the attacks on African nationals in South Africa as traumatic for the affected countries.
“The countries that have been victims of these xenophobic attacks, it has been very traumatic. It sets all of us back,” he said.
He also expressed concern over what he described as the inadequate response by the South African authorities.
“We lost two of our citizens who have been killed. It doesn’t appear the South African authorities are responding to the magnitude that one would expect them to do. The persons who are fanning these attacks are known, and they have been left free to do what they want to do. They are doing it with impunity,” he said.
The President disclosed that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had recently dispatched a delegation to Ghana to discuss the situation.
“Yesterday, July 21, President Cyril Ramaphosa sent a delegation to me, and I explained the reason why we need to discuss it. Sometimes these things happen, and we want to sweep them under the carpet, but when we do that, we do not cure what the problem is,” he said.
President Mahama stressed that Ghana’s decision to raise the issue was not intended to undermine relations with South Africa but to promote transparency and accountability.
“I told them that Ghana does not harbour any malice against South Africa, but we are raising it so it gives them the platform to explain what they are doing to the world,” he stated.
