Ghana: 2 Ghanaians Killed in Renewed Xenophobic Attacks in SA - Foreign Affairs Minister

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a Ghanaian Times report, says Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has confirmed the deaths of two Ghanaians amid renewed xenophobic violence in South Africa. Speaking at a news conference in Accra, Ablakwa identified the victims as Bashiru Isaac, 44, who was shot dead in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, and Kojo Antwi, who was killed in Prieska in the Northern Cape on July 18.

According to the report, Ablakwa said Ghana is seeking accountability through diplomatic and legal avenues. He linked the wider wave of hostility toward African migrants to the activities of civic groups including March and March and Operation Dudula, saying such campaigns had shifted into harassment, intimidation and unofficial “citizen arrests” targeting migrants. He said Ghana had formally protested to South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation after disputing South African claims about the identification of one victim.

The minister said Isaac’s body arrived at Kotoka International Airport on July 14 and was taken to the 37 Military Hospital for an independent autopsy because Ghana had not received South Africa’s post-mortem report. Ghana’s coroner’s report has been completed, but Accra is still awaiting South African findings. Ablakwa said inquiries were continuing into whether Antwi’s death was directly connected to the xenophobic attacks, and urged reliance on verified information.

The Ghanaian Times also reported that 926 Ghanaians were evacuated from Johannesburg on three chartered flights between May 27 and June 7, with a second evacuation phase launched July 26 to bring home about 1,000 more. Ablakwa said returnees would receive financial, transport, food, counselling and health insurance support, and that Ghana had asked the African Union to take up the recurring attacks as a threat to African integration and free movement.