Ranking Member on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has described as “deeply disturbing” the conflicting accounts emerging from Ghana and South Africa over the death of a Ghanaian national in Cape Town.

According to him, it is unacceptable for two sovereign states to present differing versions of the circumstances surrounding the death of a Ghanaian citizen, insisting that the matter raises serious concerns about trust and communication between the two governments.

Speaking on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Thursday, July 2, Mr Jinapor said the back-and-forth between officials of both countries points to a worrying breakdown in bilateral relations.

“A fact should be a fact. We should not have different accounts as to what is happening in South Africa.

“If it is the case that we have sadly lost one of our compatriots in South Africa, that should be established. We cannot be in a situation where two sovereign governments have conflicting reports about the death of a Ghanaian citizen in South Africa. That is most unfortunate and very disturbing," he said.

His comments come after the South African government publicly challenged claims made by Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the circumstances surrounding the killing of a Ghanaian national in Cape Town.

In a statement issued on Thursday, July 2, South Africa’s Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mmamoloko Kubayi, who also chairs the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration, said Ghana’s account of the incident was “factually incorrect” and not supported by police investigations.

Ghanaian authorities had earlier suggested that the Ghanaian national was fatally wounded on June 30 during anti-immigrant demonstrations linked to xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

But South African authorities rejected that version, stating that the victim was attacked at his workplace on June 29 in what police suspect was a criminal incident unrelated to any demonstrations.

According to the Western Cape Police, the deceased was shot at a barbershop in Nyanga after unknown assailants allegedly stormed the premises, demanded money and shot him before fleeing. Police believe the motive may be extortion-related and say investigations are ongoing.

Reacting to the diplomatic fallout, Mr Jinapor said the current state of relations between Ghana and South Africa is troubling and should not be allowed to deteriorate further.

“Quite clearly, there is some breakdown of trust between our respective governments, and the bilateral relations between Ghana and South Africa, obviously, are at their lowest,” he stated.

He argued that the matter should now be elevated beyond the level of the two foreign ministers and handled directly by the presidents of Ghana and South Africa in order to restore confidence and normalise relations.

“I think, most respectfully, that the engagement should be elevated to the level of the presidency — the presidency of Ghana and the presidency of South Africa — to make the effort to normalise this relationship,” he said.

“If you follow the back-and-forth between our Foreign Minister and the Foreign Minister of South Africa, it is quite clear that there is some breakdown of cordiality and functionality. There doesn’t seem to be a functional relationship between the two foreign ministers.”