Ghanaians Safe in South Africa – Hon. Ayorkor Botchwey.
02-03-2017
Hon. Ayorkor Botchway
Shops were said to have been broken into and looted while the owners were attacked. In 2015 there were similar attacks leading to the loss of lives and property.
The Foreign Minister said, so far, from her enquiries from Ghana’s Embassy in South Africa, Ghanaian nationals were reported to be safe.
She said Ghanaian nationals have been asked to stay indoors and not to open their businesses. They were also asked to text messages on Facebook and social media in the case of any distress calls and inform the Ghana Embassy about any attacks.
She said the South African Ambassador who had been asked to give the state of affairs, confirmed that Ghanaian nationals in South Africa were safe.
Hon Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, MP of Asawase expressed worry about events of looting and violence in South Africa against foreign nationals especially Africans, the very people, who in the apartheid period were in solidarity with downtrodden Africans of South African only to turn around to mete out such atrocities to hardworking foreign nationals staying in South Africa.
When the Majority Leader, Hon Osei Kyei-Mensah expressed concern over the matter calling for vigilance to ensure that Ghanaian nationals were safe.
Hon Botchwey said the anti-foreign demonstrations for today, 24th February, 2017 were not on all foreigners in general but was said to be on some foreign nationals doing drug business, human trafficking and running brothels by such nationals as Nigerians, Somalis, Pakistani, among others and no Ghanaian is known to be affected.
We have asked our Embassy in South Africa to monitor the situation, she said, and there was also the need to take up the matter to higher levels such as the ECOWAS and the African Union (AU).
She said the vision of the AU was that all Africans should cross their borders and move freely to do business in other African countries which will promote intra-trade for the growth of the whole continent and live together as people of one goal: the development of the continent and their unity as one people.
