Ghana asks AU to probe xenophobic attacks in SA

Ghana has escalated a complaint over attacks on its citizens in South Africa, urging the African Union (AU) to weigh in after a spate of anti-foreigner protests fanned fears of xenophobic violence.

The move steps up diplomatic pressure on Pretoria, which is trying to calm concerns on the continent that South Africa could suffer another spasm of the violence that has periodically terrorised its immigrant communities.

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The attacks “pose serious risk to the safety and wellbeing of many African nationals residing in South Africa”, Ghanaian Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said in a copy of the petition to the AU – which calls for a fact-finding mission – posted on X.

The West African nation summoned South Africa’s envoy last month after a video of a group verbally attacking a Ghanaian citizen was circulated on social media.

Nigeria made a similar request last week, following anti-immigrant demonstrations in Johannesburg.

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The recent protests have revived concerns about xenophobic violence in South Africa, where migrants are targeted in a climate of high unemployment and overstretched basic services.

In 2008, about 60 people died and 50 000 were displaced in a wave of xenophobic attacks.

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South Africa has disputed that the recent attacks really took place, arguing that videos and images on social media were “fake” and part of a deliberate campaign to damage the country’s reputation.

“The South African government has nothing to hide,” Minister in The Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters in Cape Town on Thursday.

“If necessary, we will submit a factual report to the AU as the allegations are not based on facts.”

Research by the government-funded Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) has however found that anti-immigrant sentiment among South Africans has increased significantly over the past five years, based on survey data going back to 2003.

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Hostility toward immigrants has become particularly pronounced in four provinces, especially KwaZulu-Natal, it said.

“The data shows that the levels of hostility toward immigrants recorded in 2025 are the highest observed since the start of measurement in 2003,” the HSRC said in an report published on its website on Thursday.

“One of the reasons for this increase in hostility in recent years is that immigrants are increasingly being perceived as an economic threat.”

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