Claim: South African company Gold Fields permanently shut down
Source: Social media (X and TikTok)
Verdict: False
Researched by Gifty Danso
Amid a wave of xenophobic tensions in recent months, a claim surfaced online that South African multinational companies operating in Ghana were being targeted because of xenophobic attacks back in South Africa.
On May 28, 2026, an X account, Judaeda Blanco, shared a video (archived here) with a caption that South African mining company, Gold Fields, has been “permanently shut down in Ghana.” At the time of filing this report, the post had gained close to 200K views, 327 comments, 273 reposts, 1.7K likes and 496 bookmarks.
Fig. 1 – Screenshot of X post
RelatedNews
This fact-check will verify the claim.
Fact-check
We first ran an analysis on the video, and identified the following;
1.The video shared by the X account came from a TikTok account, Kojo Pebs TV.
2.The original version of the video was first published by Channel One TV. The logo of the news outlet was embossed on this version. This video was shared on May 5, 2026, when the Gold Fields CEO, Mike Fraser addressed traditional authorities during a visit to the Apinto Divisional Stool at Awudua in the Western Region.
During that visit, the Gold Fields CEO spoke about the importance of the company’s operations, highlighting the Tarkwa concession’s significant contribution to the company’s global production and stressed that the company applied for a 20-year lease extension.
“And when I think about Takwa, it’s a really important part of our business. In fact 25% of our global production comes from Ghana. In some respects we were very disappointed to see that Damang is not part of our group…
“What I would say today is that we are not going to give up on Tarkwa. In November last year, we submitted a lease extension for the Tarkwa mine which would give us at least for the initial term, another 20 years of mining at Tarkwa,” he said.
3. The inscription, “South African company Goldfields permanently shutdown” appeared to have been edited into the original video shared by Channel One TV. This can be seen in another video here, shared by a TikTok user on May 20, 2026.
Gold Fields’ mining lease in Ghana
Gold Fields currently operates the Tarkwa gold mine in Ghana. The company previously operated the Damang mine as part of its concessions held under its subsidiary, Abosso Gold Fields Limited. In April, the Government of Ghana rejected an application to renew the Damang mining lease, and instead handed it over to a local firm owned by the president’s brother.
With respect to the Tarkwa mine, however, the mining lease remains valid and is set to expire in April 2027, despite the company’s efforts to secure an early renewal.
Contrary to the claims, a shutdown of Gold Fields would imply that authorities had revoked the company’s mining lease and operating licence, forcing it to cease operations and exit the country.
Verdict:
The claim that Ghana has permanently shut down Gold Fields is therefore false!
Campaign against foreign companies in the wake of recent xenophobic events
While it appears the Government of Ghana has not taken any retaliatory actions against South African firms operating in Ghana, some civil society groups and prominent individuals have called on the government not to renew the Tarkwa lease, citing concerns that local communities have not benefited sufficiently from the mine’s operations.
The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) recently intensified calls for the government to prioritise local ownership of the country’s natural resources, and argued that the extension of the Tarkwa mining lease should be rejected.
“The IEA considers the requested lease renewal or extension…It will be deeply inimical to Ghana’s long-term economic and strategic interests and therefore calls on the government to soundly reject this approach.
“Reject it decisively while prioritising a framework that secures meaningful Ghanaian ownership of the mine at Tarkwa,” said IEA fellow and former Chief Justice, Sophia Akuffo on May 13, 2026.
Others, including lawyer Kofi Bentil and Oliver Barker-Vormawor have made similar calls for the government to take retaliatory actions against foreign companies,such as Gold Fields and MTN because they have ties to South Africa (here).
Last week, a group of protesters affiliated with the Ghana First Alliance, staged a demonstration at MTN Ghana’s headquarters in Accra, calling for action against foreign firms operating in Ghana.
