Ghana, not South Africa, moved to defer a planned visit by President Cyril Ramaphosa once xenophobic attacks on Ghanaian nationals intensified, the government has said, pushing back on suggestions that the country was reacting to a snub from South Africa.
Minister for Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu told Joy FM’s Midday News on Tuesday that the visit had been arranged well before the recent wave of violence against African migrants in South Africa. “This is a visit that had been planned well in advance of the outbreak of the recent xenophobic attacks,” he said, noting it had been slated for “early August 2026.”
READ ALSO: Ramaphosa’s proposed visit predates recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa – Kwakye Ofosu
According to Kwakye Ofosu, it was Ghana’s government that sent a diplomatic communication proposing deferral once the attacks escalated, rather than South Africa rejecting or withdrawing from the engagement.
“We believe it is best to defer the visit until such a time when these matters have been resolved, and there is relative calm,” he said.
He stressed that Ghana continues to value its relationship with South Africa, built on what he called “shared values” spanning economic, political and social cooperation, and argued that proceeding with the visit under the current tensions risked overshadowing substantive bilateral discussions with the xenophobia controversy.
His remarks offer a different framing from earlier reports, including by the Daily Graphic, which said Ghana had declined a state visit request from Ramaphosa over concerns about the safety of Ghanaian nationals and the security implications of hosting the president amid the unrest.
A diplomatic cable from Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, referenced SCR.CO/GH/SA VOL.6 and dated July 6, 2026, lends some support to Kwakye Ofosu’s account.
In it, Ghana informs the South African High Commission in Accra that “due to state exigencies it has been deemed appropriate to postpone” the Third Session of the Ghana-South Africa Bi-National Commission, which had been confirmed for August 4–7 in Accra, adding that it would be “rescheduled to a mutually convenient date in due course.”
A separate cable from South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), also dated July 6, similarly requests “postponement of the BNC to a date to be mutually agreed through diplomatic channels.”
Government sources at Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told MyJoyOnline that Ghana’s position, communicated through official channels, reflects a deliberate, proactive decision by Accra to manage the diplomatic fallout from the attacks, rather than a reactive one.
The clarification comes on the back of an escalating dispute between Accra and Pretoria over the killing of a Ghanaian national during the period of unrest. Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has named the victim as 40-year-old Bashiru Isak, saying he was shot in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, on June 30 amid demonstrations linked to the “March and March” anti-immigration movement, and has demanded a transparent investigation.
South African authorities have disputed that account, with Western Cape police and Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi saying the shooting occurred a day earlier, on June 29, in Nyanga, and was a criminal robbery unrelated to the protests.
Ghana has repatriated close to 1,000 citizens amid the wider unrest, with hundreds more reportedly awaiting evacuation, and has pushed for the African Union to treat the wave of xenophobic attacks against African nationals as a priority issue at its next statutory meeting.
Kwakye Ofosu’s comments suggest Ghana wants the narrative settled on its own terms: that Ghana acted decisively to protect its citizens and manage the diplomatic relationship responsibly, rather than being caught reacting to a snub.
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