South Africa Police Speak on Killing of Another Ghanaian Citizen, Says Incident Linked to Extortion
- South African police confirmed the fatal shooting of 35-year-old Ghanaian national Kwabena Boagen at the Nyanga Terminus in Cape Town on June 29
- SAPS said preliminary findings point to extortion as the motive, contradicting Ghana's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which had linked the death to xenophobic violence
- Police have opened a murder investigation with no arrests made, while a post-mortem examination is underway
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The South African Police Service (SAPS) has confirmed the murder of a Ghanaian national in Cape Town's Nyanga district, with investigators indicating that the killing appears to have been motivated by extortion rather than anti-immigrant sentiment.
In a statement published on its official Facebook page, SAPS identified the deceased as 35-year-old Kwabena Boagen, who was shot dead on Monday, 29 June 2026, at the Nyanga Terminus in Cape Town.
Source: Facebook
Police say the attack took place at approximately 3:45 p.m. outside the NTG Hair Salon and Shoe Repairs, where unidentified gunmen opened fire on Boagen before fleeing the scene. Emergency Medical Services personnel arrived and pronounced him dead at the scene.
"The South African Police Service in the Western Cape confirms the murder of a Ghanaian national in Nyanga on Monday, 29 June 2026, in circumstances believed to be linked to the crime of extortion," the SAPS statement read.
No arrests had been made at the time of publishing. Detectives from the Nyanga unit are leading the investigation, and a post-mortem examination is being conducted by officials from South Africa's Department of Health in accordance with the country's legal procedures. SAPS also confirmed that investigators had made contact with a relative of the deceased and conveyed their condolences to his family.
Boagen was a resident of the neighbouring Khayelitsha township but worked in Nyanga, where he was shot.
The police statement on Facebook directly contradicted a position taken by Ghana's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which had described the killing as connected to anti-immigrant demonstrations and xenophobic attacks in Khayelitsha.
SAPS rejected that characterisation, stating that it had no record of any such incident occurring in Khayelitsha. "With regard to the media release issued by the Ghanaian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the South African Police Service has no record of the alleged murder in Khayelitsha," the statement noted.
The clarification comes amid heightened tensions in South Africa following nationwide anti-immigrant protests held on 30 June 2026, which were organised by activists including Nkosikhona Ndabandaba, known as Phakel'umthakathi, and Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma of March and March. Incidents of looting and violence were reported in parts of KwaZulu-Natal during those demonstrations.
Source: YEN.com.gh
