Riyaz Patel
President Cyril Ramaphosa, has through his envoy Jeff Radebe, conveyed his apologies to President Akufo-Addo and the people of Ghana over the recent xenophobic-linked attacks in South Africa.
Radebe, a former Minister in the Presidency, told Akufo-Addo that Ramaphosa “abhors” the violence that played out in parts of South Africa earlier this month.
The apology, President Akufo-Addo stated, “is accepted in good faith,” and was hopeful that the “authors of the violence will be apprehended, and will face justice,” Pulse Ghana reported.
“This is not in line with constitutional democracy, and it is an affront to the rule of law. President Ramaphosa has condemned the violence, and has instructed security agencies to leave no stone unturned in bringing all the perpetrators to book,” Radebe said during his meeting with Ghana’s president.
He added that Ramaphosa canceled his participation at the United Nations General Assembly to deal with the matter, and to ensure that it does not escalate.
Radebe reiterated the importance of the historic relations between Accra and Pretoria, and indicated that “what has happened should not stand in the way of closer cooperation between Ghana and South Africa.”
With Akufo-Addo being the first President to pay a State Visit to South Africa following Ramaphosa’s election victory, Radebe told the Ghanaian president that this is evidence of “the high regard he has for you and the people of Ghana, and the role played in the liberation of the continent from colonialism and imperialism.”
Akufo-Addo thanked Radebe for Ramaphosa’s “exceptional gesture,” adding that “it is a courageous act on his part to apologise on behalf of the people of South Africa for the actions of the perpetrators of the violence.”
Twelve people died – two foreign nationals and ten South Africans – business’ destroyed, and hundreds displaced in the xenophobic-linked social unrest in parts of South Africa.
