The 5 'lies' SA International Relations Minister has accused Ablakwa of spreading

South Africa’s Minister for International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, has expressed his disappointment in Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

Reacting to Ablakwa’s interview on JoyNews over the weekend, Lamola, in a video message shared on Facebook, accused Ghana’s foreign minister of spreading lies over details of the ongoing repatriation and some happenings in South Africa.

He claimed that the foreign minister was dishonest in at least five of the claims he made, including the following:

Almost 30% of Ghanaians being evacuated are legally documented in South Africa:

The International Relations Minister of South Africa (SA) accused Ghana’s Foreign Minister of misrepresenting the percentage of Ghanaians who were being evacuated and were in the country illegally.

He said that Ablakwa’s claim that 30% of the Ghanaians who had been repatriated from South Africa were legally documented in the country was untrue.

“The first factual inaccuracy is that almost 30% of the Ghanaians that you have repatriated and that we have assisted you to repatriate were legal in South Africa. It is not true, and this has been communicated to the High Commissioner.

Death of 2 Nigerians:

He also accused Ablakwa of falsely claiming that some Nigerians had died in the ongoing attacks in South Africa.

He said that no Nigerian had died, contrary to Ablakwa’s claim that two had been killed.

“Secondly, that there are two Nigerian nationals who have been killed during the current wave of attacks against foreign nationals, particularly of African descent, in South Africa. We have verified with all our law enforcement agencies and all state authorities. There was no Nigerian, or there is no Nigerian national, that has been killed during this current wave of attack.

Death of 5 Mozambican Nationals:

Lamola also accused Ablakwa of exaggerating the number of Mozambicans who had been killed in the attacks.

He indicated that while only two Mozambicans had been killed, Ghana’s foreign minister had claimed that five of them had been killed in the attacks.

“Thirdly, that there are five Mozambican nationals that have been killed in South Africa during the current wave of attack, that is also devoid of truth and is not correct. At least two Mozambican nationals have indeed been killed, and the South African Police Service is investigating the matter. It's following leads, with possible arrests soon,” he added.

16 seriously injured Ghanaians in South Africa:

Lamola also refuted Ablakwa’s claim that some Ghanaians had been seriously injured and were receiving medical treatment in South Africa.

He said that there is no public record showing that such an incident had occurred.

“The fourth lie in the interview is that there are 16 Ghanaian nationals, and we, as the South African government, have been informed about these 16 Ghanaian nationals who are in hospitals in South Africa. I verified with our law enforcement agencies. This again is not true. We don't have any verified information, including in our hospitals, that there are such Ghanaian nationals.

“And if it is indeed correct that there are such persons, I have also verified with our officials responsible for dealing with the Ghanaian High Commissioner in South Africa, whether they have received a note verbale about these injured Ghanaian nationals in our hospitals, and they have also said they have not received any such note verbale,” the SA minister said.

Push to remove South African companies from Ghana:

The South African minister also claimed that Ablakwa was misleading the public by saying that there is public pressure on the government of Ghana to stop doing business with companies from his country.

He asserted that the government of John Dramani Mahama has been giving poor treatment to South African companies since it assumed office and that the current attacks in South Africa are being used as an excuse to remove companies from his country from Ghana.

“Lastly, with regards to the threat that there is public pressure for you to consider the nuclear route against South African companies in Ghana, I will tell you that it will not be the first time that such a thing has happened. When the current administration came into office in Ghana, I engaged you about the unbearable working conditions that have come to bear against South African companies since the current administration came into office.

“I wrote you a letter. I will not disclose this letter at this stage, but I will be prepared to disclose the letter and send it to the public through Twitter, as we are doing, when we raised the issue that impacts South African companies in Ghana. So, we will not be shocked or surprised if such a route is taken. It was made clear from the beginning that this is where we are going, so we should not hide behind the current attacks as the basis to proceed with whatever motive you have against South African companies in Ghana.”

Watch a video of his remarks below:

A deeply disappointing interview, replete with misinformation.

First, the claim that two Nigerians have been killed during the current wave of attacks remains entirely unsubstantiated by available information.

No Nigerian National has been killed during the current waves of… https://t.co/mlkbMiJiAd pic.twitter.com/RxjJWB0OmL

— Minister: International Relations and Cooperation (@RonaldLamola) June 6, 2026

BAI

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