Scores of Ghanaian nationals flocked to the Ghanaian embassy in Pretoria on Sunday, eager to participate in a screening and verification process set to facilitate their evacuation from South Africa.
Image: Supplied
Scores of Ghanaian nationals turned up for the screening and verification process at the Ghanaian embassy in Pretoria on Sunday.
This comes as Ghana's High Commissioner to South Africa, Benjamin Quashie, recently announced that 826 Ghanaians had registered to be evacuated from South Africa.
Quashie revealed that the screening process for the first 300 Ghanaians departing on Wednesday has been precipitated by the recent anti-migration protests that have erupted across the country.
The nationwide protests led by the interest group March and March in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Eastern Cape have called for non-South Africans to leave the country by the end of June.
Quashie noted that there are currently over 16,000 Ghanaians residing in South Africa, the vast majority of whom are there legally and adhere to local laws. However, Quashie underscored that the climate of intimidation has forced many Ghanaians to consider returning home.
"The government of Ghana feels that it is time to bring those who feel unsafe in this country back home, to reintegrate them into the Ghanaian society. We have 800 people going to Ghana, writing their names, who have volunteered to leave South Africa. But the first screening is for 300 people, which is a process we began today, it will go into tomorrow, and then we'll have the first 300 that leave on Wednesday," Quashie stated.
Recent protests led by March and March have resulted in the government of Ghana initiating an evacuation process for its citizens.
Image: Simon Majadibodu/IOL
On the current protest that has spread across Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Eastern Cape, Quashie remarked: "I think that we don't have to mince words in calling it xenophobic attacks. I believe that the things that have been happening across the country, where people take the law into their own hands, are a challenge. But I also believe that this will not put a strain on the diplomatic relationship between South Africa and Ghana. The only thing is that we should move from talking and get to action."
Among those who showed up for the screening process was 22-year-old Sylvester Boakye, who last week became the only citizen to arrive at the OR Tambo International Airport following a miscommunication over the date of the chartered flight to Ghana.
Ghanaians in South Africa prepare for evacuation amid xenophobic fears that have erupted in parts of the country.
Image: Siyabonga Sithole/IOL
Boakye, who made a living as a hairdresser for the past two years, revealed that his efforts to return home were thwarted by a lack of funds and numerous encounters with officials, who would demand money from him.
"When I missed my flight on my visit to South Africa, I could not raise enough money to go back home. A fellow Ghanaian tried to help me and gave me a job. I tried to raise enough money to return home, but things became too difficult as the little money I would make would be taken from me by corrupt officials, who always target us for bribes," he stated.
Another Ghanaian resident, who did not want to be named, said his ten-year stint in South Africa exposed him to numerous physical attacks, with the recent attack in Meadowlands, Soweto.
"I was attacked by a group of guys in Meadowlands, who were speaking in the local language. Unfortunately, I could not speak their language. They then kicked me and beat me up. That is why I have run to the embassy because I want to go home," he stated.