Claim: Ghana declines South Africa president’s state visit request
Source: TV3 (citing unnamed Ministry of Foreign Affairs source)
Verdict: Misleading
Researched by Alfa Shaban
On Tuesday, July 7, 2026; a major news item carried by portals and news broadcasts was a purported rejection of a “state visit” request by South African president Cyril Ramaphosa. The claim was also widely discussed across social media platforms.
GhanaFact traced the source of the early reports to Media General, who reported the claim via a story on their website (3news.com) and subsequent news flyers posted across their social media platforms like Facebook, X, and Instagram.
The story, titled “Ghana declines Ramaphosa state visit request over xenophobic attacks on Ghanaians in South Africa,” cited 3News sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
RelatedNews
“The source said the Ghanaian government was also deeply concerned about the security implications for the South African president, taking into account fears of reprisal.”
The source added that Ghana’s “position had been unequivocally conveyed to South Africa, which has been urged to take concrete steps to address the attacks and guarantee the security of Ghanaian nationals as a precondition for such a visit to be honoured.”
But did Ghana indeed decline an official visit by the South African president? This fact-check will verify the claim.
Fact-Check
A state visit, according to the Royal House of the Netherlands, is the highest-ranking and most formal type of international diplomatic visit, defined as a strictly official trip made by the head of state to a foreign country at the formal invitation of that nation’s head of state.
With respect to the claim that Ghana declined a state visit request by South Africa, Minister of government communication, Felix Kwakye Ofosu dismissed the claim of a declined state visit describing the reports as “grossly exaggerated” and that “the headlines were a bit sensational.”
He explained that plans were already in place in August 2026 for Ramaphosa to visit at a bilateral level meeting but given the xenophobic tensions and violence in South Africa and sentiments here in Ghana, the xenophobia discussions could overshadow matters of important mutual interest.
“So Ghana sent a diplomatic communication that we think given recent circumstances, the meeting should be postponed till a time there is a more conducive atmosphere to hold these talks as previously agreed.
“It is not the case that we can block the South African president from coming in, but we asked for a postponement or deferment pending resolution of issues around xenophobia,” he said in an interview on Accra-based Peace FM.
South Africa government clarifies issues:
The South African government also dismissed the report of a declined state visit pointing out that the meeting Ghana asked to be postponed had to do with a binational commission meeting Ghana was due to host this year after the last one hosted by South Africa on March 12, 2024.
The South African government through presidential spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, clarified that there was no planned visit and stressed that communication to Ghana was strictly in seeking clarity on whether the bi-national meeting will take place. Therefore, the instant meeting had nothing to do with a state visit request.
GhanaFact confirmed the March 2024 meeting in South Africa. The bi-national commission was instituted in 2019 when then president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his South African counterpart signed an agreement to establish the commission.
- Did South Africa request a state visit? No
- Did Ghana reject any visit request from South Africa? No, only a prearranged meeting was postponed
- Was the postponement related to xenophobic violence? Yes
Verdict
The claim that Ghana rejected a state visit by South African president Cyril Ramaphosa is Misleading.
