A Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr. John Osae-Kwapong, has urged the South African government to take strong, decisive steps to tackle repeated xenophobic attacks on Ghanaians and other Africans in the country.
His remarks come after a new surge of assaults that has drawn alarm across the continent, with troubling videos and eyewitness reports widely shared showing people being beaten in broad daylight.
The incidents have revived discussion on the effectiveness of South Africa’s policing response and the wider policy approach to immigration and social unity.
Speaking on The Big Issue on Channel One TV on Saturday, April 25, Dr. Osae-Kwapong noted that while economic factors and immigration issues may fuel tensions, the urgent duty lies with the South African state to protect everyone within its territory.
“I think the South African government also has a responsibility in all of this. As a matter of whether it is their immigration policy, my biggest concern is in all of these things happening, where are state institutions like the police because in one or two of the videos, I said to myself one or more kicks and this person can die in broad day light and so there is that law-enforcement piece of it that until some other policy solution is found to this, I think the immediate reaction should be from the South African state itself.
“Is it that law enforcement is unaware, they don’t care, or they don’t think that they should try and stop this? What are the reasons fuelling this sort of continued behaviour, and it also seems like it comes up every so often.A”
