Cyril Ramaphosa, the South African President, has pleaded with President John Dramani Mahama to help rally other African heads of state in support of South Africa over the ongoing xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals.
According to the SA president, the ongoing attacks on foreign nationals are an African problem, not only a South African one, and require African solutions.
Speaking to the press, the SA president expressed appreciation for Mahama’s willingness to champion South Africa’s cause among fellow African leaders.
He disclosed that the move has influenced South Africa’s decision to dispatch diplomatic envoys across the continent.
Cyril Ramaphosa, the South African President, stated, “This time around, we are saying we want to work together; work with us. And I’m rather pleased that President Mahama of Ghana has been saying he would like to make a call on other African countries to work with South Africa, and that is precisely what has triggered our intention to send envoys, so that they go and explain the initiative that we have taken.
“In the end, this is an African problem; it is not only a South African problem, but we are all involved in this. Various countries on the continent experience precisely what we are going through”.
He further recognised the severe social pressures, including unemployment, insecurity, and poor service delivery, that have powered anti-immigrant tensions but contended that the solution must be collective, as it is an African problem.
This is an African problem that requires African solutions,” he stated.
Meanwhile, President John Mahama has said Ghana’s diplomatic relations with South Africa remain strong despite the recent xenophobic attacks leading to Ghanaians being evacuated.
According to John Mahama, there has been no breach in our relations with South Africa.
Speaking at Chatham House in London, during his five-day official visit to the United Kingdom, President Mahama stated, “We do not have any breach in our diplomatic relations. What happened was that it’s not the first time there have been these xenophobic attacks in South Africa”.
“They say we shouldn’t call it xenophobia. I don’t know what else or what name you can give it. But there have been these surges in anti-foreign attacks.”
“Lately, Ghanaians have gotten involved. This is the first time we’ve really had Ghanaians getting a part of the direction of attacks,” he said.
He added, “And if you were not South African, you were asked to leave the hospital. Even if you were ill, it created a very toxic atmosphere. At this point, we had nearly 200 of our citizens in our embassy”.
“It didn’t look like the South African authorities were doing anything to try to quell what was happening and also to provide protection to those who had been displaced,” he said.
“And so we did the first evacuation flight. We’re going to do two more to take those who want to leave. It is voluntary. We asked, “Do you want to stay or leave?” And many of them say they feel threatened. And so they want to leave.”
President Mahama further added, “I think it’s unfortunate what is happening in South Africa. We need to drill down to what causes these flare-ups in terms of xenophobia. And so all of us must empathise with South Africa or must sympathise with South Africa”.
“And we must help South Africa to be able to drill down and find out what it can do to reduce unemployment rates amongst the black populations. After the last fellow African leaves, is it going to change unemployment among blacks in South Africa?” he asked.
“After the last shop has been closed and everybody has left, will it change unemployment in South Africa? And everybody brings some advantage. They either bring their knowledge or they bring investments,” he said.
“And I think we should get over this fear of foreigners coming into our countries.”
However, Ronald Lamola, South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, has said SA will vigorously defend itself against what he terms any “frivolous or baseless” lawsuit originating from Ghana.
In a news card shared by TV3, Ronald Lamola stated, “We(South Africa) will vigorously defend any frivolous or baseless lawsuit emanating from Ghana against South Africa”.
Also, South Africa has warned Ghana against ‘public spectacles’ over evacuation flights.
Lamola wrote on X, “Our initial hope was simply to assist the Government of Ghana in repatriating its citizens in a humane and cordial manner”.
“However, we will not continue to tolerate… public spectacles, characterised by incomplete information and outright misinformation devoid of any diplomatic decorum.”
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