South Africa Rejects Ghana's Claim Over 40-Year-Old's Death as Anti-Migrant Tensions Rise
Updated
Updated · DW (English) · Jul 3
South Africa Rejects Ghana's Claim Over 40-Year-Old's Death as Anti-Migrant Tensions Rise
3 articles · Updated · DW (English) · Jul 3
Summary
South Africa said Thursday that no one was killed during this week's anti-immigrant protests, rejecting Ghana's claim that 40-year-old Bashiru Isak died in the demonstrations.
Police told AFP a 35-year-old Ghanaian was shot Monday at a barbershop in Khayelitsha in what authorities suspect was an extortion-related killing, not a protest death on Tuesday.
Ghana said it had formally protested to Pretoria and stood by its account, while also condemning what it called a rising tide of xenophobia against African nationals in South Africa.
The dispute follows weeks of unrest over illegal migration, including attacks on migrant-owned businesses, after anti-migrant groups set a June 30 deadline for undocumented immigrants to leave.
Migration tensions have sharpened in South Africa, where 2.4 million to 3.1 million foreign-born residents live alongside unemployment of about one-third and deep inequality.