A diplomatic dispute has emerged between South Africa and Ghana following claims that a Ghanaian citizen was fatally shot during anti-migrant protests in Cape Town. Ghana's Foreign Affairs Ministry stated it had received reports of the death of Bashiru Isak, 40, in Cape Town's Khayelitsha township on Tuesday. The ministry has lodged a formal protest and filed a complaint with the police.
South African officials have refuted these claims. The country's justice minister expressed concern that Ghanaian authorities were disseminating inaccurate information regarding irregular migration issues in South Africa. South African police stated they have no record of a killing in Khayelitsha matching the description provided by Ghana.
However, police are investigating the killing of another Ghanaian national, 35-year-old Kwabena Boagen, who died a day earlier in the Nyanga township. Police reported that Boagen lived in the Khayelitsha area but worked in Nyanga, where the incident occurred. A post-mortem examination is being conducted in accordance with standard procedures. According to initial police accounts, suspects allegedly entered the barbershop where Boagen was employed, demanded money, and then shot him before fleeing the scene. No arrests have been made to date.
South African police appealed to Ghanaian authorities to provide specific details about the Khayelitsha incident to aid further investigation. A South African foreign ministry official described the connection between the Ghanaian's death and anti-migrant protests as a "fabricated tale."