The Presidency has dismissed reviews that President Cyril Ramaphosa requested a state go to to Ghana, saying no such go to had been deliberate.
The claims, first revealed by a number of Ghanaian media organisations earlier than spreading throughout West Africa and past, alleged that Accra had declined to host Ramaphosa in protest over assaults on overseas nationals in South Africa. The reviews had been subsequently amplified by media throughout the continent and internationally, together with the BBC.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya mentioned there had been no deliberate go to to Ghana and dismissed strategies that Ramaphosa had requested one.
Diplomatic correspondence seen by the Mail & Guardian reveals that communication between Pretoria and Accra involved the scheduled South Africa-Ghana Bi-Nationwide Fee (BNC), somewhat than preparations for a presidential state go to.
The BNC is the principal bilateral mechanism by way of which South Africa and Ghana evaluate political relations, commerce, funding and cooperation. The fee alternates between the 2 nations.
South Africa hosted the earlier BNC in March 2024 throughout former Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo’s go to. At that assembly, the 2 nations agreed that Ghana would host the following session in 2026.
Preparations had been due to this fact beneath means for Ghana to host this yr’s fee, with the 2 governments participating on logistical preparations for the scheduled assembly.
In a diplomatic observe dated 6 July, South Africa’s Division of Worldwide Relations and Cooperation requested that the BNC, scheduled to happen in Accra from 4 to 7 August, be postponed “to a date to be mutually agreed by way of diplomatic channels”.
In a separate diplomatic observe, additionally dated 6 July, Ghana’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs knowledgeable South Africa’s Excessive Fee in Accra that, “as a consequence of state exigencies”, the forthcoming BNC can be postponed and rescheduled for a mutually handy date. The observe makes no reference to a state go to or xenophobia.
Ghana’s Enterprise & Monetary Instances later reported South Africa’s clarification that there had been no request for a state go to and that communication between the 2 nations associated to preparations for a bilateral engagement somewhat than a presidential go to.
The episode comes in opposition to the backdrop of strained relations between Pretoria and Accra following anti-immigrant violence in elements of South Africa.
Ghana has publicly condemned assaults on overseas nationals and known as for accountability following the killing of a Ghanaian citizen in Cape City. South African authorities have maintained that the killing was linked to alleged extortion-related criminality and never xenophobia.
