By Ghana and South Africa are locked in a diplomatic row after the apparent killing of a Ghanaian in the southern African country.
Government of Ghana’s prompt interventions following the killing of a Ghanaian in South Africa during the June 30 violent demonstrations, said a statement by Ghana’s foreign affairs minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
South African authorities have denied suggestions that the alleged victim identified by Ghana as 40-year-old Bashiru Isak had been killed during Tuesday’s protests against undocumented migrants.
Reports said he was shot to death in the township of Khayelitsha in Cape Town as protesters took to the streets nationwide to demand that undocumented migrants leave the country.
There was consternation in Ghana last month after a video of one of its citizens being beaten in South Africa, prompting protests from the authorities in Accra.
Statistics show that South Africa has more than 2 million foreigners with hundreds of thousands of them undocumented migrants from neighbouring countries including Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia. The population of West Africans are mainly from Nigeria and Ghana.
The authorities in Pretoria said Tuesday’s protests were largely peaceful although there were reports of looting of local spaza shops and the harassment of foreigners who had not left despite the unofficial June 30th deadline set for them to leave by protest movements.
A statement by the foreign affairs ministry of Ghana said the government in Accra has made a formal protest to the authorities in South Africa and a complaint with the South African police over the alleged killing.
However, South Africa’s justice minister described the reports about the murder as false information and expressed concern that the Ghanaian government was giving undue attention to reports that were untrue.
The South African police are requesting more reliable details from officials in Ghana about Isak’s death which they claimed had nothing to do with the protests.
The police however acknowledged that investigations are ongoing about the killing of a Ghanaian.
They said the victim identified as 35-year-old Kwabena Boagen was allegedly killed by extortionists who had entered a barber’s shop where he was at the time. The crime took place in Nyanga, another Cape Town township.
Boagen was living in Khayelitsha, according to the findings of the South African police.
His alleged killers are still believed to be on the run.
Thousands took to the streets of major cities and townships in South Africa, calling on the government to address the challenges posed by migration to the country. The police said although the demonstrations were peaceful, at least 900 people were arrested for reported looting and the violations of immigration rules.
Protesters defied a ban on sticks and spears which were bradished during the protests.
March and March, one of the anti-migrant movements who had organised the protest said they are the beginning of a series of demonstrations against the presence of undocumented foreigners in the country.
Angry rhetoric and attacks on foreigners have led to South Africa being accused of xenophobia, a claim many South Africans deny.
