Kempton Park – Only 10 of the 300 Ghanaian nationals who were processed for repatriation from South Africa were found to be in the country legally, the Department of Home Affairs has revealed, as the first repatriation flight from OR Tambo International Airport faced hours of delays due to verification checks.
Home Affairs Immigration and Law Enforcement Head Stephen van Neel confirmed the figure, saying the rest of those on the list were either undocumented, non-compliant or had overstayed their visas.
“Of the three hundred individuals that were on that list we only found 10 of them being legal in the country, the rest of them are illegal without documents or actually not complying or have overstayed but there are some sanctions that needs to be taken and the department of Home Affairs will indeed make that those are implemented,” van Neel said. 
Those found to have overstayed face being banned from re-entering South Africa under the country’s Immigration Act.
The repatriation flight, which was originally scheduled to depart at 4:00 a.m., was still grounded hours later as officials worked through the night to finalise verification checks and ensure all procedures were in order before the Ghanaian nationals could board. Ghana’s High Commission confirmed that fewer than 300 citizens ultimately boarded the flight to Accra, with some turned away because their papers were not in order. Those individuals will be given an opportunity to travel on a second repatriation flight scheduled for Sunday.
The repatriations are taking place against the backdrop of ongoing protests against undocumented migrants in South Africa, led by movements including March and March.
Ghana’s High Commissioner in South Africa, Benjamin Kofi Quashie, was firm in saying his country would not retaliate.
“Ever since this whole March and March and Dudula started, have you seen any Ghanaian in the streets of Accra going after any South Africans, no. You know why? The state institutions in Ghana work,” Quashie said.
He added that repatriation of any foreign national should remain a matter for state institutions and not individuals.
“We believe that if there are any South African that’s needs to be repatriated to SA, it’s not an individual responsibility to do, it’s the responsibility of the state institutions. We are living in a very law-abiding environment, a law-abiding society.”
Quashie said Ghana had no intention of responding in kind to the anti-immigrant sentiment in South Africa.
“So we believe that if there will be no reprisal attacks, my ministry of foreign affairs has stated time without number, do not expect any reprisal attacks from Ghana. Ghana is bigger and would ensure that we continue to work together with the spirit of pan-Africanism.”
A second repatriation flight is expected on Sunday, with Home Affairs officials saying they hoped to have the next list verified by Saturday at the latest to avoid a repeat of the delays experienced with the first flight.
