The Presidency has accused Ghana of leading what it describes as a campaign to falsely portray South Africa as increasingly isolated on the continent, saying the issue has already been raised directly with Ghana’s High Commissioner.
The latest remarks follow the Presidency’s rejection last week of reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa had sought a state visit to Ghana and had been rebuffed over South Africa’s handling of migration. The Presidency has consistently maintained that no such state visit had been planned.
Speaking at a media briefing on Wednesday, presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said South Africa had identified what he described as a campaign “primarily driven by Ghana and, to a lesser extent, Nigeria”.
“We’ve taken note of the campaign, primarily driven by Ghana and to a lesser extent Nigeria,” Magwenya said.
“That campaign is false.”
Asked whether Ghana was spreading false information about South Africa, Magwenya replied: “The answer is yes.”
He said the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) had raised South Africa’s concerns directly with Ghana’s High Commissioner and urged Ghanaian authorities to verify information with South African authorities before issuing public statements.
Magwenya rejected suggestions that South Africa was becoming diplomatically isolated.
“We’re going to reject that campaign and we’re going to assert our rightful position, not only on the continent but amongst the global community.”
He said there was no evidence that Ghanaian nationals had been disproportionately affected during recent anti-illegal immigration protests in South Africa.
“There was an incident involving one citizen and it was not a fatal incident,” he said, questioning what he described as an “anti-diplomatic and unconstructive posture” adopted by some Ghanaian politicians and officials.
Magwenya also dismissed calls by some politicians for South African-owned companies operating elsewhere on the continent to be nationalised, saying such a move would ultimately damage the economies of the countries involved.
“It will signal that those countries are now closed for trade and business. It will also signal a greater degree of uncertainty of doing business in those countries.”
While the Presidency had heard the calls, Magwenya said it would respond only if they became official government policy.
“We’ve heard the noise and we will only respond to something official.”
Asked whether the campaign could be linked to South Africa’s genocide case against Israel before the International Court of Justice, Magwenya declined to draw that conclusion.
He said, however, that South Africa had anticipated reprisals after instituting proceedings against Israel.
“It is on record by some authorities in Israel that South Africa must be punished,” he said.
Magwenya also rejected suggestions that the campaign had damaged South Africa’s international standing, pointing to recent engagements with international leaders and investors, including Google, Amazon and Toyota’s R10.4 billion investment announcement.
He confirmed that Ramaphosa’s diplomatic outreach to African leaders on migration was under way. While the special envoys announced by the President had not yet been deployed, Magwenya said the necessary administrative processes were being finalised and Ramaphosa had already spoken directly to several African leaders.
According to Magwenya, those engagements showed broad recognition among African leaders of the migration pressures facing South Africa and support for a collaborative regional response.
