The first plane carrying Ghanaian evacuees from South Africa touched down in Accra this morning. Sources confirm that 147 citizens, mostly women and children, were on board the aircraft chartered after days of violent anti-immigration demonstrations in Johannesburg and Pretoria. The UK Foreign Office, in a rare public cooperation with Accra, provided logistical support and consular assistance to secure safe passage for the evacuees.
Uncovered documents show that the British High Commission in Pretoria had flagged the escalating tensions as early as Monday, warning of a “high risk of targeted violence against foreign nationals.” Yet, it took three days and a reported diplomatic scramble before the first evacuation flight departed OR Tambo International Airport late last night. The delay raises questions: Why the wait? And what deals were struck behind closed doors to secure the plane?
The evacuees speak of a nightmare. Homes torched. Shops looted. A climate of fear that turned entire neighbourhoods into war zones. One man, a trader from Kumasi who had been in Johannesburg for eight years, said he lost everything in a single night. “They came with machetes and petrol bombs,” he told our team on the tarmac. “The police did nothing. We were on our own.”
The protests, fueled by a toxic mix of economic despair and xenophobic rhetoric, have been simmering for weeks. But the trigger appears to be a statement by a South African political figure calling for “mass deportations” and blaming immigrants for the country’s ills. The statement went viral, and the violence followed.
Now the Ghanaian government faces a logistical and political headache. The evacuees will be housed in temporary shelters in Accra, but many have no homes to return to. Some have been away for decades. Others came here hoping to earn money to send back to families. Now they are back, with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.
The UK’s role is curious. On the surface, it is humanitarian: helping a Commonwealth partner in distress. But the reality is more complex. The UK has its own migration battles brewing. Sources within the British diplomatic machine confirm that the Foreign Office sees this as a test of “soft power” in Africa, a continent where China and Russia are quickly filling the vacuum left by a retreating West. The evacuation is a gesture. But it is also a statement: we are still here.
Expect more flights this week. An estimated 4,000 Ghanaians remain in South Africa, many still trapped in townships where the violence has not yet subsided. The Ghanaian High Commission in Pretoria has set up a helpline, but sources say the lines are overwhelmed. People are desperate. The situation remains volatile.
This is not just a story about immigration. It is a story about power. About who gets to move freely and who gets trapped. About governments that act quickly when they must, but only when the cameras are watching. The evacuees are safe. But the system that failed them is not fixed. Not yet.
