South Africa has rejected a Ghana-Nigeria push to take xenophobic attacks against African migrants to the African Union, warning efforts to isolate Pretoria will fail. (Photo: Rogan Ward/REUTERS
South Africa has rejected efforts by Ghana and Nigeria to escalate the issue of xenophobic attacks to the African Union, saying the campaign will not succeed in isolating Pretoria from the rest of the continent.
The response follows a joint initiative by Ghana and Nigeria to push for an African Union debate on recurring attacks against African migrants in South Africa.
Quoting the Mail & Guardian, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said South Africa welcomed a continental discussion on migration but rejected attempts to use the issue as a tool for political pressure.
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“We have welcomed the opportunity to place the issue of migration on the AU agenda, where we can discuss both the pull and push factors of migration,” Magwenya told the Mail & Guardian.
He said the debate should go beyond South Africa and address why millions of Africans continue to migrate in search of economic opportunities.
“More importantly, we can also engage on every country’s responsibility to contribute to the development of Africa in order to avoid a situation where one country has to carry the burden of the entire continent. We are ready for that discussion at the AU.”
The remarks came after Ghana announced at the ECOWAS mid-year summit in Sierra Leone that member states had backed its proposal to raise the issue with the African Union.
Earlier, Ghana and Nigeria issued a joint statement committing to work together to push for an AU discussion on what they described as Afrophobic attacks in South Africa.
The two countries also called for stronger continental cooperation through early warning systems and preventive diplomacy to protect African migrants.
If AU member states adopt the proposal, the issue would move beyond bilateral diplomacy and become a formal agenda item for African leaders.
While Ghana first championed the proposal, Nigeria’s endorsement has added weight to the initiative, giving it the backing of two of West Africa’s most influential states.
Pretoria, however, insists the campaign is misguided.
“What Ghana and Nigeria will not succeed in doing is to use the challenge of illegal migration as an instrument to isolate South Africa from the rest of the continent,” Magwenya said.
“That campaign will fail as it is faltering even now.”
Relations have become increasingly strained in recent weeks following renewed anti-illegal migration protests in South Africa and criticism from several African governments over attacks on foreign nationals.
Last week, the South African Presidency accused Ghana, and to a lesser extent Nigeria, of leading a campaign to portray Pretoria as increasingly isolated on the continent.
Magwenya said South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation had formally conveyed its concerns to Ghana’s High Commissioner.
