PRETORIA — A Ghanaian plumber who spent years working in South Africa is among 800 plus nationals preparing to leave the country under a voluntary repatriation programme. This as fears over alleged xenophobic violence and anti-immigrant protests continue to grow.
“I got children. I mustn’t stay here and lose my life,” he told NOWinSA during Sunday’s screening at the Ghana High Commission in Pretoria. Although he said he had never personally experienced a physical attack, the growing climate of fear and the images circulating online convinced him it was time to leave South Africa.
The man, who chose not to divulge his name, said he had worked and lived peacefully in South Africa for years, at times employing South African workers and paying them for their work before deciding to return home.
“They say we must go and fix our country,” he said. “I’m going to help fix our country.”
He also reflected on the history his parents told him about Ghana’s support for South Africa during apartheid, when Nelson Mandela was still imprisoned. Now, he said, that sense of African solidarity feels increasingly distant.
Watch our exclusive NOWinSA interview with him, as posted on X, below:
Ghana repatriation programme sees hundreds register in South Africa
The man’s decision mirrors that of hundreds of other Ghanaians who gathered at the High Commission on Sunday for the first round of security screening ahead of a chartered repatriation flight expected to depart on Wednesday.
Ghana’s High Commissioner Benjamin Quashie confirmed that 826 nationals have voluntarily registered to return home, with the first 300 cleared for departure this week.
Quashie noted that most of those registered are in South Africa legally, with roughly 40 of them still waiting on the Department of Home Affairs to process their renewal applications.
“When we enquire, we are told it is a cumbersome process, which we have to accept,” he said. “These are close-knit people who are here legally, just trying to make ends meet.”
He was careful, however, not to dismiss the broader immigration debate. “We are not saying illegal migration is not a problem — in fact it is a huge concern. But the approach we take to solving it is what will determine whether we move forward or backward. The government of Ghana feels it is time to bring those who feel unsafe in this country back home,” he said. “We should move from talking and get to action.”
This crisis arrives at a particularly sensitive time, amid long-simmering migrant tensions across the country, including recent controversies that have reignited debate around immigration and foreign nationals in South Africa. Similar tensions and incidents involving foreign nationals have surfaced periodically over the years.
