Catholic Bishops Urge Restraint as Xenophobic Tensions Rise in South Africa
Gladson Afriyie
Journalist
Advertisement
The President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, has appealed for calm following rising xenophobic tensions in South Africa and calls by some Ghanaians to shut down South African businesses in the country.
Addressing the media on Thursday, May 28, Most Rev. Gyamfi warned that retaliatory moves would worsen divisions across Africa and threaten continental unity.
He urged Ghanaians and other Africans not to respond emotionally to the situation. “I believe that Ghanaians who have been repatriated, and indeed all Africans, should see this as a misunderstanding by some people in South Africa and should not react by repatriating South Africans back,” he said.
“Once you begin that, it will have a snowball effect all over Africa. We just want everybody to keep calm. Initially, people may want to act emotionally to settle scores, but that is not the proper way to handle these issues,” he added.
Most Rev. Gyamfi stressed the need for peaceful coexistence, pointing out that Africans live and run businesses in each other’s countries. “Ghanaians will continue to live in South Africa and South Africans will also continue to live in Ghana. Ghanaians have businesses there and South Africans also have businesses here. Let us live in unity and love,” he said.
While acknowledging that isolated incidents and misunderstandings will happen, he cautioned against letting them shape relations between nations. “There will always be some aberrations. You should not build on the deviations,” he noted.
He described it as “very sad” that Africans still reinforce divisions drawn during European colonization instead of breaking from them. “We keep emphasising artificial boundaries and differences,” he said.
Citing history, Most Rev. Gyamfi recalled past expulsions between Ghana and Nigeria, saying both countries suffered as a result. “Ghana once made the mistake of asking Nigerians to go back home, and later Nigerians also repatriated Ghanaians. I do not think the two countries will ever repeat those mistakes again because they have learned their lesson,” he stated.
