Scores of Ghanaian nationals queued at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport Early Wednesday to board repatriation flights home following a violent wave of anti-immigrant protests across South Africa.
The evacuation, organized by the Ghanaian government, comes after escalating safety concerns and targeted attacks against foreign-owned businesses in Gauteng province left many migrants fearing for their lives.
“We cannot sleep at night because of the threats. I am leaving everything behind just to ensure my family is safe,” said Kwesi Baah, a Ghanaian trader who boarded the flight.
South African authorities revealed a striking detail during processing, noting that out of the first batch of 300 evacuees, only ten individuals possessed legal documentation to reside in the country.
The protests erupted last week as local demonstration groups blamed foreign nationals for South Africa’s soaring unemployment rate, which currently sits at an unprecedented 32.7% in the first quarter of 2026.
Demonstrators argue that undocumented migrants strain crumbling public infrastructure and take scarce informal jobs, though human rights organizations have strongly condemned the attacks as dangerous economic scapegoating.
Tensions have simmered since South Africa’s tightly contested elections, where political parties increasingly leveraged anti-foreigner rhetoric to win over a frustrated, impoverished electorate.
The diplomatic fallout is mounting across the continent. Nigeria and Zimbabwe are reportedly preparing similar evacuation protocols for their citizens trapped in volatile South African townships.
Ghanaian High Commission officials stated that while they respect South Africa’s sovereign right to enforce immigration laws, the immediate priority remains protecting vulnerable African citizens from vigilante violence.
The South African government has deployed additional police units to hotspot areas, urging citizens to refrain from taking the law into their own hands while promising stricter border controls.
