THE Government has said there are no confirmed Ghanaian casualties in the renewed xenophobic attacks on African nationals in South Africa.
Xenophobic attacks which have become an annual ‘ritual’ in South Africa erupted on Thursday, August 29 with West Africans mostly the target.
Unconfirmed videos on social media platforms have shown looting and attacks on shops said to belong to Nigerians.
“Our High Commission in Pretoria is monitoring the situation closely and any new development will be communicated accordingly,” a statement issued by the Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Ministry in Accra yesterday said.
Describing the development as “unfortunate” the Ghanaian government urged its South African counterpart to take all necessary steps that would guarantee harmonious co-existence between South Africans and African residents in South Africa.
According to the Ministry, since the breakout of the violence, Ghana has acted independently and jointly with the African Diplomatic Corps in insisting on the prevention of the recurrence of such unwarranted attacks on African nationals and the looting of their shops.
Ghana’s mission in South Africa, the statement said, has advised Ghanaian nationals through their various associations in that country to avoid areas prone to violence; urging Ghanaians to call +271-234-258-47 and +271-234-258-48 when in distress.
“The Government calls on the South African authorities to deal firmly with all the criminal elements associated with the attacks and the looting of shops and to put in place measures to guarantee the safety and security of all African nationals and Ghanaians resident in South Africa,” the statement demanded.
A Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Charles Owiredu, meanwhile, has advised Ghanaian nationals owning shops in South Africa, especially those dotted around the hotspots in the xenophobic insurrection to avoid such places for now.
“If you have a shop around such places, please for the time being, close your shops until the tensions are eased in the territory,” he told Accra based Kasapa FM.
Former President John Mahama has also condemned the attacks in an Instagram post.
“The xenophobic attacks on Africans in Alexandra, South Africa, are condemnable and run absolutely contrary to all our efforts at continental integration.
“Clearly, and as I have said in the past, the perpetrators of these gruesome attacks are ignorant of the continental solidarity that was required to defeat apartheid and give birth to the new South African nation.
“Certainly the South African Government must take responsibility for these inhuman actions and implement urgent steps to prevent these attacks from recurring in the future,” the former President wrote.
BY TIMES REPORTER
