Govt requests an autopsy report of Ghanaian killed in South Africa

By: Godbless Asaana
The High Commissioner of Ghana to South Africa, Benjamin Anani Quashie has said that Ghanaian authorities have requested an autopsy report of a Ghanaian national, Mr. Bashiru Isak, killed in South Africa.

He made the remarks in an interview on TV3 Keypoints, saying that the accounts of the South African Police on the killing of the Ghanaian contain factual inaccuracies.

“We have requested an autopsy report from the South African authorities, and until we get it, we maintain the shooting incident happened on June 30; not June 29, as claimed by the police. – South African authorities have admitted they got the name of the deceased wrong but have refused to make the correction in their correspondence,” he said.

Quashie further said that the Ghanaian who was killed in South Africa in the ongoing xenophobic attacks was working with a Zimbabwean when the incident happened.

Not consistent with claims by the South African Police that the Ghanaian was killed in an extortion, the High Commissioner noted that there was an eyewitness account from the Zimbabwean; the incident was not extortion; rather, it was a case of South Africans stampeding them in the shop to drive them away.

According to Benjamin Quashie they have been looking for the Zimbabwean to come in to testify as the matter is taken up by Ghanaian authorities; however, out of fear, he has also absconded.

“The deceased was working with one Zimbabwean; the two of them were working in a shop when the incident happened. He has also absconded because of fear,” he said.

“The crime has been committed. The man has been killed in cold blood; it was not a case of extortion; it was a case of people coming to tell them to leave the country,” he added.

Prior to this, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it received with profound shock and sadness reports of the fatal shooting of a Ghanaian national, Mr. Bashiru Isak, aged 40 years in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa, on Monday, 30th June, 2026, during anti- immigrant demonstrations linked to ongoing xenophobic attacks.

The Government of Ghana, in the statement issued by the Ministry, condemned, in the strongest terms, this “senseless act of violence and the rising tide of xenophobia targeting African nationals,” including Ghanaians, in South Africa.

“Ghana demands from the South African authorities a full, transparent and expedited investigation leading to the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators. We also reiterate our call on the South African authorities to ensure enhanced protection for all Ghanaian nationals in affected communities,” he said.

It would be recalled that Ghana has already transmitted a petition to the African Union Commission (AUC). Our formal petition on xenophobic attacks against African nationals in South Africa remains active and “we expect the AU to treat the matter with the urgency it demands at its next statutory meeting.”