Ghanaians’ ICC petition over migrant attacks ‘opportunistic’, says South Africa

South Africa has dismissed as “opportunistic” a petition filed at the International Criminal Court (ICC) by two Ghanaians seeking an investigation into attacks on foreigners amid a rise in protests about the country’s undocumented migrants.

The petition, submitted to The Hague-based court last week, argues the violence could amount to crimes against humanity and accuses the South African government of failing to prevent and punish those responsible.

But South Africa’s foreign ministry says the petition falls short of the ICC’s legal threshold and insists its own legal system can handle such matters.

Diplomatic tensions between Ghana and South Africa over the situation have been growing.

Ghana was one of the first African countries to repatriate its citizens from South Africa following the latest wave of anti-migrant protests.