{"id":914274,"date":"2026-06-20T18:13:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T23:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/20\/xenophobia-tensions-escalate-in-south-africa-as-officials-allegedly-target-foreign-nationals\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T18:13:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T23:13:10","slug":"xenophobia-tensions-escalate-in-south-africa-as-officials-allegedly-target-foreign-nationals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/20\/xenophobia-tensions-escalate-in-south-africa-as-officials-allegedly-target-foreign-nationals\/","title":{"rendered":"Xenophobia tensions escalate in South Africa as officials allegedly target foreign nationals"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Tensions are rising over a fresh wave of xenophobic actions in South Africa after allegations emerged that a local mayor shut down businesses owned by African migrants, handed the shops to locals and ordered foreigners to leave the area within 21 days.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In recent months, anti-immigrant groups have intensified protests against foreigners, particularly other Africans.<\/p>\n

Some incidents have led to the closure of businesses, verbal abuse and physical attacks.<\/p>\n

Ghana\u2019s High Commissioner to South Africa, Benjamin Anani Quashie, described the situation as deeply worrying, citing a recent incident in Estcourt, near Durban, where a mayor allegedly shut down foreign-owned businesses, handed them over to locals and ordered foreign nationals to leave within 21 days.<\/p>\n

Speaking in an interview, Mr Anani Quashie said the mayor seized keys to businesses owned by Ghanaians and other African migrants who were legally operating in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mayor in Estcourt has taken keys belonging to Ghanaians and other African migrants who are genuinely and legally working in his area. He has taken the keys, handed over their shops and businesses to locals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added that the affected businesses included mechanic shops and other small enterprises, and said diplomatic missions had verified the allegations.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of Ghanaians are affected. We have close to about 25 Ghanaians whose businesses have been closed,\u201d he disclosed.<\/p>\n

Mr Anani Quashie noted that the issue extends beyond Ghanaians, revealing that Nigerian and Angolan diplomats had also raised concerns after their citizens were affected by the same operation.<\/p>\n

According to him, Ghana and the other affected countries are preparing legal action to challenge the directive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve told them that we\u2019re going to fight this legally. No law in South Africa gives the mayor the right to say whatever he\u2019s saying. We\u2019re going to ensure that the right thing is done,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

He said the affected countries have already gathered statements from their nationals and submitted them to the legal department of the African ambassadors\u2019 group for review.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, we are in the process. It\u2019s not only one country that is going. All the countries involved have made statements and given them to the legal department. They have confirmed there is no legal basis for what he is doing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Anani Quashie added that with only 17 days remaining before the eviction deadline, diplomatic missions are working urgently to stop any forced removals from taking place.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tensions are rising over a fresh wave of xenophobic actions in South Africa after allegations emerged that a local mayor shut down businesses owned by African migrants, handed the shops to locals and ordered foreigners to leave the area within 21 days. In recent months, anti-immigrant groups have intensified protests against foreigners, particularly other Africans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":914275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25251,149711],"tags":[10376,149710],"class_list":["post-914274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tensions","category-xenophobia","tag-tensions","tag-xenophobia"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=914274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/914275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=914274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=914274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=914274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}