JOHANNESBURG - International Relations Minister, Ronald Lamola, has rubbished claims made by his Ghanaian counterpart, Samuel Ablakwa, on migration and xenophobia.
Lamola expressed shock and disappointment over Ablakwa’s allegations that nearly 30% of Ghanaians repatriated from South Africa were in the country legally.
Ablakwa, through social media and interviews in Ghana, alleged that xenophobic attacks have been ongoing in South Africa since 2008.
"In our petition, we are demanding first a discussion of the matter. The South African government should explain to us why this keeps recurring and they don't seem to have the political will to deal with this decisively.
"We do not want to be caught up in a situation where you are seen to be doing what you are complaining against. We want to take the high moral ground. The entire continent looks up to Ghana for leadership.
"I will continue to urge fellow nationals to take the high moral ground; let us not retaliate," he said.
Ablakwa said they also want the African Union to set up a fact-finding mission to South Africa.
"It is really a shame that after all these decades of unity, we will have an African country target Africans migrants. But they don't bother about migrants of a different skin colour. They are exhibiting hatred, sheer hatred of other Africans," Ablakwa said in an interview with Ghana's Joy99.7FM radio station.
READ: Most of the 300 repatriated Ghanaians found to have overstayed
Stopping short of calling Ablakwa a liar, Lamola said Pretoria will defend South Africa’s image against any unfounded claims.
"Let there be no misunderstanding: we will vigorously defend any frivolous or baseless lawsuit emanating from Ghana against South Africa.
"Our initial hope was simply to assist the Government of Ghana in repatriating its citizens in a humane and cordial manner.
"However, we will not continue to tolerate these public spectacles, characterised by incomplete information and outright misinformation devoid of any diplomatic decorum. Make no mistake: the South African government remains committed to regional integration.
"We are, and will remain, open to discussing the push and pull factors relating to migration at a bilateral level, the African Union, or any multilateral forum, but let us be factual in our engagements and not pander to unnecessary public spectacles that are devoid of any diplomatic decorum," Lamola said.