A throwback video of President John Dramani Mahama condemning xenophobic attacks against African nationals living in South Africa has resurfaced.John Dramani Mahama
According to John Mahama, the young people of South Africa do not know what happened before they gained their freedom.
He highlighted that the whole of Africa stood behind South Africa in the fight against Apartheid.
Over a decade later, these xenophobic attacks persist, with a new wave of intensified violence reported across several cities in South Africa this week.
In the resurfaced throwback video of President John Mahama in 2015, speaking during a visit to Nigeria stated, “It’s most regrettable and most unfortunate. I think that the young people of South Africa do not know what happened before they gained their freedom.”
“The whole of this continent stood behind South Africa, the whole of Africa stood behind South Africa to fight apartheid. Indeed, for several of the countries where their citizens were brutalised in South Africa, these are countries that were called frontline states that harboured the freedom fighters of South Africa, that gave them safe haven, gave them passports to be able to avoid the clutches of the apartheid regime.
“So it is regrettable that the same people who fought against apartheid are being attacked in this way,” Mahama said.
Mahama added, “I think that the government must sit up and take strong action. Those who have been involved in this atrocity must be brought to book and must be punished so that it serves as a deterrent so it does not happen in future.
“The unfortunate thing is that this is not the first time; it keeps flaring up. And so while we are condemning this incident, we must work with the South African government to ensure that this does not happen again.
“We are trying to create an integrated continent where our people can move freely amongst our countries. This does not set a good example for integration, especially South Africa that has investments all over our countries.”
In recent times, a video has surfaced on social media with some South Africans sacking non-Citizens from a government hospital amid the xenophobic attacks by South Africans.
In the viral video, a man was heard saying, “If you know you’re not a South African citizen, may you please stand up and leave our hospital”.
The group of South Africans demanded that the doctors and nurses at the hospital discharge all foreigners who were receiving treatment, with a man instructing the doctors at the hospital “to stabilise and discharge” the patients to seek medical attention at private health facilities.
According to the South Africans in the viral video, foreigners are not allowed to seek medical attention in public hospitals.
Earlier, a viral street confrontation video from South Africa shows activist Victoria Africa commonly known as Queen Vee and a group of locals questioning a Ghanaian man and other African migrants about their travel documents.
According to Victoria Africa, South Africans are tired of other African countries migrating to their country and refusing to fix their own countries.
Victoria Africa in the viral video stated, “We are fixing this continent. This thing of you guys moving from one country to another is no longer working. We don’t want this as African people anymore. We are tired of seeing African migrants moving all over the world, refusing to fix their own countries. Now we are making it very clear to you guys, we don’t want you here. We want you to fix your countries.
“You came here with a travelling document. We came with a passport. You know that you are a visitor, but you decided to come and integrate into our communities. You know very well that what you have done is wrong. We can come to Ghana and do what you do now.”
The Ghanaian man was then asked to show his passport. After he showed them the document, which was a “certified copy” of his passport, they accused him of buying it from a corrupt South African official.
Another man asked the Ghanaian man, “Who is the police officer that you are bribing to certify these things for you… Let me tell you, you know, by law, as an immigrant, you’re not allowed to certify your passport… Why do you certify your passport in a foreign land? Let’s just start there. Why do you certify your passport in a foreign land?”.
The man explained that he had a certified copy because he did not want the original one to get lost or destroyed by rain.
The South Africans kept insisting that he was in their country illegally and should leave.
The footage has triggered an intense online debate about xenophobia and migration.
Watch the video below:
“The whole of Africa stood behind South Africa in the fight against Apartheid.”
— SIKAOFFICIAL🦍 (@SIKAOFFICIAL1) April 22, 2026
—Throwback to 2015, when President John Dramani Mahama condemned xenophobic attacks against African nationals living in South Africa.
More than a decade later, these attacks persist, with a new wave… pic.twitter.com/SYANMnRVLh