President John Dramani Mahama has called on the African Union (AU) to take a more proactive role in addressing recurring xenophobic attacks in South Africa, warning that the violence threatens the continent’s unity, integration and solidarity.
Speaking during a meeting with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), H.E. Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, at the Jubilee House in Accra on Wednesday, July 22, President Mahama said the issue required urgent continental attention, citing the significant financial and humanitarian burden Ghana has incurred in evacuating its citizens from South Africa.
“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,” he said.
The President urged the AU to place the issue on the agenda of its next summit, arguing that continued xenophobic violence could undermine decades of efforts to promote African unity.
“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 added.
President Mahama described the attacks as deeply traumatic for the affected countries and expressed concern over what he considered an inadequate response from the South African authorities.
“The countries that have been victims of these xenophobic attacks, it has been very traumatic. It sets all of us back,” he said.
He further disclosed that two Ghanaian citizens had lost their lives during the attacks and alleged that those responsible had not been held accountable.
“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.
President Mahama also revealed that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had recently dispatched a delegation to Ghana to discuss the situation. He said Ghana’s decision to raise the matter publicly was intended to encourage meaningful action rather than strain bilateral relations.
“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.
