Ghana postpones South Africa talks amid anti-migrant violence

Government spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu said Ghana postponed bilateral meetings with South Africa planned for August after a surge in anti-migrant violence in South Africa put pressure on the planned visit and sharpened tensions between the two governments.

Ghana also sent a diplomatic communication asking South Africa to defer the visit. The meetings were due to be hosted by Ghana and co-chaired by President John Dramani Mahama and President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Ghana described it as a state visit, while South Africa treated it as an official visit tied to a binational commission on cooperation. Accra has insisted relations with Pretoria remain cordial, but it has also argued that South Africa could have done more to protect foreigners caught up in the violence.

The dispute intensified after Ghana said it was shocked by the killing of a Ghanaian national it identified as Bashiru Isak, 40, in Cape Town’s Khayelitsha township on June 30, the same day protesters marched in several South African cities against undocumented migrants. South African officials rejected Ghana’s account, saying the man was shot on June 29 in Nyanga, at his workplace, in what police believe was an extortion-related criminal attack rather than a killing linked to the protests. Ghana’s Foreign Ministry said it formally protested to Pretoria and began repatriation procedures for the body.

Thousands of migrants have left South Africa because of the unrest.

Ghana had already pressed the African Union in May 2026 to confront recurring xenophobic attacks in South Africa.