Ghana has not ruled out evacuating more citizens from South Africa if the situation in the country deteriorates, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has said.
He said Ghana’s mission in Pretoria had submitted a report to the ministry describing the situation as “quite a dire situation”, amid continued anti-immigrant sentiment in the country.
Speaking on TV3’s The KeyPoints programme on Saturday (October 10, 2026), Mr Ablakwa said the situation was partly linked to a recent decision by South Africa’s apex court on asylum seekers.
He said the ministry’s Consular and Humanitarian Affairs Bureau was monitoring developments and assessing the welfare of Ghanaians who might require assistance.
Mr Ablakwa said the government remained prepared to intervene if another wave of violence occurred and Ghanaians needed to be evacuated.
“It does not mean that if we have another wave, a deterioration of the situation and there are Ghanaians who need assistance, it does not mean that the door is shut and that we will not move in. We will indeed,” he said.
He said Ghana’s 72 diplomatic missions around the world were monitoring the welfare of Ghanaians in their respective jurisdictions.
Mr Ablakwa said more than 6,300 Ghanaians had been evacuated from distress situations worldwide since last year, including from Libya, Myanmar and Cambodia.
Of the total, 1,964 Ghanaians were brought home from South Africa during the most recent evacuation exercise.
On Ghana’s petition to the African Union (AU) over the attacks, Mr Ablakwa said the continental body had responded and indicated that the matter would be placed on the agenda of its next summit in January 2027.
He said he would not comment extensively on the latest attacks to avoid prejudicing the discussions at the summit.
Mr Ablakwa, nonetheless, urged the South African authorities to take further steps to prevent the violence against foreign nationals from recurring.
