I left Ghana chasing my athletic dream, but South Africa became a nightmare — A Ghanaian returnee
For years, Victor Atsu Torgbo carried the speed and discipline of a soldier-athlete, hoping his talent on the track would open doors beyond Ghana’s borders.
Instead of achieving the dream that had taken him to South Africa, his journey became years of struggle, rejection, fear and survival.
The former military officer, who was once a 100-metre army record holder, said that frustration and alleged harassment within the military forced him to resign and seek greener pastures in South Africa in 2010.
“I was an athlete in the military and I wanted to continue my athletic career in South Africa,” Mr Torgbo told The Mirror in an interview in Accra last Thursday.
According to him, trouble began after he joined a military athletics team for a competition in Kumasi in 2009, despite resistance from a superior officer.
“We had been selected to participate in a 4x100 metres competition. The release had already come but my superior did not want me to go. I decided to go with my team because I was part of it,” he recounted.
The team eventually emerged victorious, but his return to camp reportedly marked the beginning of severe punishment.
“When I came back, I was put in the guard room. They released me and later locked me up again. It became too much for me,” he said.
The athlete claimed the treatment he received pushed him into emotional distress, prompting his mother to advise him to leave the military entirely.
“My father was also a military man and my mother said she did not want me to suffer the same fate. She told me to leave and continue my sports career elsewhere,” he added.
With hopes of building a better future through athletics, Mr Torgbo travelled to South Africa in 2010 and joined a university athletics team in Johannesburg through the help of a local coach.
However, his dreams quickly collapsed when he was dropped from the team barely a month later for lacking the required work permit and South African identification documents.
“I only had a visitor’s visa. They told me I could not continue because I did not have the right papers,” he explained.
Unable to pursue athletics, he made survival his new reality.
The returnee recounted years of hardship, saying he depended on family members in Ghana for money to pay rent and buy food, while searching for odd jobs.
“At a point, I worked at a fuel station with the help of a white man, but when they realised I did not have proper documents, I lost the job,” he said.
He described life in South Africa as harsh and lonely, adding that xenophobic attacks made life even more frightening for foreigners.
“Every year, there is xenophobia. Foreigners are not safe there,” he stated.
According to him, the situation worsened in December 2019 when he was allegedly hijacked and shot.
“I still have the bullet in my spine. They shot at me during a hijacking incident,” he disclosed.
He explained that he had been using a car for Uber services at the time and believed being a foreigner made him vulnerable.
“If you are a foreigner there, they can attack you anytime and take your car,” he said.
Asked about his happiest moments in South Africa, he paused before quietly responding: “I was never really happy there.”
Despite years of struggle, he stayed on in South Africa, hoping life would improve. However, he said he finally decided to return home after hearing calls by the government for Ghanaians abroad to come back.
Before making the decision, he said he spent seven days praying.
“I prayed and God told me it was time to come home,” he said.
Now back in Ghana, Mr Torgbo says he is trying to rebuild his life and hopes to secure stable employment.
“If I get a job and support to start life again, I will be very grateful. It has not been easy,” he said.
Though he admits he did not achieve the dream that took him to South Africa, he says the experience taught him painful but important lessons about survival, resilience and the realities many migrants face abroad.
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