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President John Mahama of Ghana has stepped up pressure on the African Union to confront the escalating wave of attacks against foreign nationals in South Africa, warning that the violence threatens decades of work toward continental unity.
In a social media post on Thursday, Mahama insisted that the issue must be placed on the AU’s formal agenda, giving Pretoria an opportunity to engage constructively with other member states.
“Placing this on the AU agenda gives South Africa a formal, constructive platform to share its perspective, and together, as a continent, work toward a lasting solution,” he said.
Mahama’s remarks came after talks with AU Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf on the sidelines of a meeting in Accra, where Mahama expressed concern that South African authorities were not responding with sufficient urgency.
“The persons who are funding these xenophobic attacks are known and they have been left free to continue to do what they want to do,” Mahama told Ghanaian media.
He said the AU should take an “interest” in the matter which “has the potential to wreck everything that we have worked for, African solidarity, African integration”.
But he insisted that Ghana has “no ill will toward South Africa”.
During bilateral talks on the sidelines of the AU Extraordinary Summit in Accra, I reiterated Ghana’s call for the African Union to formally address the escalating xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa. I am pleased that AU Commission Chairman Mahmoud Ali… pic.twitter.com/tFl8lEjGbn
— John Dramani Mahama (@JDMahama) July 23, 2026
The Ghanaian leader first raised the issue in May, and Youssouf has since acknowledged the “urgent need” to bring it before the bloc’s next summit, scheduled for February next year.
South Africa has experienced weeks of unrest targeting immigrants, who have been accused of competing for scarce jobs and public resources.
More than 160,000 foreign nationals have left the country over the past two months, and several people have been killed in the violence.
Two Ghanaian nationals have filed a petition with the International Criminal Court seeking an investigation into what they called “repeated xenophobic attacks” in South Africa, though Pretoria has dismissed the move as “opportunistic.”
Earlier this month, Ghana postponed a planned visit by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to Accra following the death of a Ghanaian national, though South African authorities said the killing was unrelated to the anti-immigrant protests.
Mahama emphasised that Ghana harbours no ill will toward South Africa but insisted the violence posed a serious risk to African solidarity and integration.
“At a very high cost to us, we had to charter planes to go to South Africa to evacuate our citizens. We operated three charter flights, and we are operating another three because there are still about 900 who have signed up to come back home.
“We’ve had to pay them reintegration fees and allowances. I think that the AU should take an interest in this issue because it has the potential to wreck everything that we have worked for in terms of African integration and solidarity. We’re hoping to put it on the agenda of the next AU meeting,” he said.
