The first group of Ghanaian nationals who accepted their government’s voluntary repatriation offer and departed from OR Tambo International Airport on May 27. The second and third group will leave on Saturday and Sunday.
Image: TIMOTHY BERNARD Independent Newspapers
The High Commission of Ghana in South Africa has temporarily suspended registrations for its ongoing voluntary repatriation exercise after receiving more than 1,500 applications from Ghanaian nationals living in the country.
In a statement issued on June 1, the High Commission announced that the suspension would take effect from June 2, 2026, to allow officials to process and verify the large volume of applications already submitted.
According to the mission, the exercise is being conducted in collaboration with South African authorities, and the pause is intended to ensure that all existing applications are properly screened before the next phase of registrations begins.
"To date, over 1,500 Ghanaians have registered, and the verification and processing of these applications is currently underway," the statement said.
The High Commission assured members of the Ghanaian community who have not yet applied that the repatriation exercise has not ended and that a new registration phase will be announced in due course.
Officials also thanked the Ghanaian community in South Africa for its cooperation, patience and understanding as authorities work to ensure that the repatriation process is carried out in an orderly and coordinated manner.
Further details regarding the reopening of registrations are expected to be communicated at a later stage.
The announcement prompted members of the Ghanaian community in South Africa to flood the High Commission's social media pages with queries, ranging from the reopening of the registration programme to concerns about the absence of some applicants' names from the lists released for the two chartered repatriation flights scheduled for this weekend.
On Tuesday, the High Commission published the official lists of Ghanaians set to be repatriated from OR Tambo International Airport to Ghana on Saturday, June 6, and Sunday, June 7.
The Saturday flight will carry 336 passengers, while 334 people are scheduled to travel on the Sunday flight.
The repatriations follow months of escalating anti-illegal immigration protests across the country, led by the March and March movement.
The movement has issued an ultimatum requiring all undocumented foreign nationals to leave South Africa by June 30. The deadline has prompted several African governments to seek clarity from South African authorities and to raise concerns over what they describe as the government's failure to adequately address violent xenophobic attacks targeting their citizens.
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