Xenophobia: Ghanaian man attacked by South Africans speaks

The Ghanaian man who was captured in a viral video being attacked by a group of South Africans who were demanding he leave their country has spoken out following the incident.

The man, who has been identified as Emmanuel Asamoah, after a meeting with Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Benjamin Quashie, told Ghanaians that he was doing well despite the horrifying experience he went through.

“The little I have to say is that I’m well. I was the one in the video, but by God’s grace, nothing bad happened to me. I’m fine.

“I’ve had some discussions with Ghana’s High Commissioner this morning, so everything is fine,” he said.

He also asked his family, especially his mother, not to be troubled because he is doing well and has now recovered from the incident.

On his part, High Commissioner Benjamin Quashie urged Ghanaians living in South Africa not to take matters into their own hands, as the government works to resolve the impasse in order to avoid physical attacks.

He also encouraged them to adhere to all the directives given to them by the High Commission, including the directive for Ghanaian shops in some areas to be closed.

“The situation is dire; we understand. Let’s continue to be law-abiding. Let’s continue to respect the rules and regulations and the rules of engagement as migrant citizens in this country. I think that whatever it is that we do, we’ve always been noted as Ghanaians to be law-abiding; we’ve always been noted as being people who don’t foment trouble. So, let’s not go that route yet. Let’s continue to engage with them. And I’m sure that it is just a matter of time before everything will be all right.

“Wherever you find yourself, as your servant leader, I ask you to be law-abiding. I ask you to be patient. We’ve asked some of you, for example, in Impatah, not to work in your shops today. We’ll be sending that advisory to most of the other provinces where we pick up any information. Our belief is that we should work together to ensure we don’t have casualties. Let’s work together to ensure that whatever it is that we do will continue to foster that bilateral relationship that we have between South Africa and Ghana. Thank you,” he said.

'We Don't Want You Here': Watch viral video of South Africans confronting Ghanaian resident

Watch their remarks in the video below:

Ghana’s High Commissioner to South Africa, Benjamin Quashie, has engaged a Ghanaian national, Emmanuel Asamoah, who was featured in a viral video being confronted by locals over his stay in the country. https://t.co/xOwlhD0lF8 pic.twitter.com/8BcTPQWL9H

— EDHUB🌍ℹ (@eddie_wrt) April 23, 2026

About the attack:

In the said video, one of the South Africans, a woman, is captured saying they are no longer going to tolerate foreigners from other African countries staying in their country.

She said that Africans must learn to stay in their countries and fix their issues rather than travelling to other countries for greener pastures.

The group then asked the Ghanaian man to show them his passport, which led to him pulling out a document.

After he showed them the document, which was a “certified copy” of his passport, they accused him of buying it (the document) from a corrupt South African official.

The man, who looked dumbfounded, explained that he had a certified copy because he did not want the original one to get lost or destroyed.

However, the South Africans kept insisting that he was in their country illegally and should leave.



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