'We haven't taken anybody's job' - Ghanaian mechanics in SA push back against wrong narrative

A video showing some Ghanaian mechanics working in South Africa firing back at what they described as false narratives, has surfaced on social media amid fresh xenophobic attacks in the country.

Their remarks, captured in a video shared on X by Sika Official, showed the mechanics, based in Johannesburg, denying claims that foreign nationals are stealing jobs from South Africans.

According to the mechanics, the real problem is an unwillingness among locals to learn a trade and work.

"The bottom line is laziness. People are lazy. People don't want to work. Simple as that," one of them said bluntly.

He recounted repeatedly offering to train young South Africans in his community, only to be turned away.

"I used to say, 'Please, why can't you give me this boy to train him to become a mechanic?' He will be like, 'I don't have time for that'," he added.

Another mechanic described the hoops he jumped through to work legally in the country.

"As a foreigner, when I come to this country, I read what is going on here and I see that to do this job, I need to get a certificate. I got the skills already, so I get a certificate and get a job. But when I get a job, they will say 'You are a foreigner, you don't have ID,' they chase me away," he said.

Another one noted, "We haven't taken anybody's job. If we leave this place for them, for thousands of years, nobody can work here. If you don't have a skill, you can't work."

The video has been gaining traction at a particularly tense moment.

Ghana's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, recently summoned South Africa's envoy and called for an intervention to prevent further escalation after videos circulated online showing Ghanaians and other immigrants being harassed in South Africa.

This is the latest in a series of attacks where foreign nationals have been targets for frustrations that the South African state has failed to answer, even though migrants are not the cause of the country's joblessness.

South Africa's official unemployment rate stood at 31.4% in the fourth quarter of 2025, with youth unemployment at 43.8%, figures that have led some South Africans to vent their anger at fellow African nationals, accusing them of committing crime and taking jobs.

South Africa's police ministry has since condemned the attacks, describing them as unlawful and "in direct opposition to the values of dignity, equality, and human rights upon which our democracy is founded."

Watch the video below:

“The bottom line is laziness. People simply do not want to work.”

—Ghanaian mechanics working in Johannesburg have pushed back against xenophobic claims that foreigners are taking jobs, arguing instead that many opportunities exist for those willing to learn skills and put in… pic.twitter.com/IpYSIk4nKv

— SIKAOFFICIAL🦍 (@SIKAOFFICIAL1) April 24, 2026