Ghana president pushes for AU debate on S/Africa anti-migrant unrest

Ghanaian President John Mahama is intensifying pressure on the African Union to confront the growing wave of anti-immigrant violence in South Africa. He described the situation as "escalating" and expressed concern that South African authorities are not adequately addressing the issue.

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Placing this on the AU agenda gives South Africa a formal, constructive platform to share its perspective, and together, as a continent, work toward a lasting solution.

Mahama's call comes as two Ghanaians have petitioned the International Criminal Court to investigate what they term "repeated xenophobic attacks" in South Africa. Pretoria has dismissed this move as "opportunistic."

South Africa has experienced weeks of unrest targeting foreign nationals, who are often accused of taking jobs and straining resources. These incidents have led to the departure of over 160,000 foreign nationals and several deaths in the past two months, straining Pretoria's relations with other African governments. Ghana had previously pushed for the AU to debate the violence in May, with the AU Commission chairperson acknowledging the "urgent need" to discuss it.

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it doesn’t appear that the South African authorities are responding to the magnitude that one would expect them to.

"Placing this on the AU agenda gives South Africa a formal, constructive platform to share its perspective, and together, as a continent, work toward a lasting solution," Mahama stated on social media Thursday. He reiterated his concerns in talks with the AU chief, saying, "it doesn’t appear that the South African authorities are responding to the magnitude that one would expect them to."

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The persons who are funding these xenophobic attacks are known and they have been left free to continue to do what they want to do.

Mahama also alleged that those funding the attacks are known and operating with impunity. He emphasized the potential for this violence to undermine African solidarity and integration. Despite the strong criticism, Mahama insisted that Ghana holds "no ill will toward South Africa." Earlier this month, Ghana postponed a planned visit by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa following the death of a Ghanaian national, though South African authorities stated the killing was unrelated to the anti-immigrant protests.

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has the potential to wreck everything that we have worked for, African solidarity, African integration.