Ghana exaggerated xenophobia claims - South African activist

Leader of the March and March Movement in South Africa, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, has dismissed claims of xenophobic attacks against Ghanaians in South Africa, accusing the Ghanaian government of exaggerating the situation.

According to her in a video sighted by GhanaWeb on X on May 25, 2026, reports suggesting that Ghanaians were attacked are false and created a misleading impression about South Africa.

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Ngobese-Zuma described the response from the Ghanaian government as an overreaction.

“In English, it's a hyperbole, where I think the Ghanaian government really overreacted. I think it's disappointing. We've had a lot of respect for Ghana as a country and for the people of Ghana, and we still do, but for them to react in the way that they did is largely dishonest,” she said.

She further questioned claims that Ghanaians were physically attacked.

“Because for them to claim that there were people who were beaten up when they know there were no people beaten up, and for the Minister of Police to even echo that is absolutely ridiculous,” she stated.

Ngobese-Zuma argued that a widely circulated video linked to the incident only showed a confrontation involving a foreign national accused of violating immigration laws.

“What we saw in that video was Victoria Africa talking to someone who had broken the laws of the country, coming legally and staying illegally, which is something a lot of foreign nationals do,” she indicated.

She criticised the Ghanaian government’s handling of the issue, insisting that authorities should have focused on addressing immigration concerns rather than portraying South Africa as xenophobic.

“And instead of them addressing that issue in a correct manner, to say, listen we noted that there's a citizen of ours who was in the country, so-and-so broken the laws, these are our concerns, et cetera, et cetera, they decided to do a whole PR exercise that would paint South Africa as xenophobic,” she added.

The activist also claimed that some Ghanaians living in South Africa had admitted publicly that they overstayed their visas.

“Very disappointing, and now we've got a lot of these Ghanaians on television, actually telling us how they got into the country. Many of them are saying, ‘I'm here in South Africa, and I came on a business visa, I'm staying here now,’ et cetera,” she alleged.

She maintained that the real issue was illegal stay by some foreign nationals and not xenophobia.

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“Those are the actual events that there are a lot of lawbreakers in the country,” she stated.

Meanwhile, the Ghanaian government has begun an evacuation exercise for its nationals living in South Africa in the wake of xenophobic attacks against some African nationals in the country.

“The Ghanaian government overreacted. We have a lot of respect for the people of Ghana, but for them to claim that their people were beaten up when they were not is largely dishonest.”

— Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, leader of the March and March Movement in South Africa, asserts that… pic.twitter.com/0foKBgH3PE

— 𝐀𝐒𝐊 (@askghmedia) May 25, 2026