The dispute intensified last week when Ghana condemned the alleged murder of Bahiru Isak, a 40-year-old Ghanaian national living in the Khayelitsha suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. Ghanaian officials said he was killed during anti-immigration protests on June 30.

However, South African authorities say no such murder occurred and insist that the only Ghanaian victim was Kwabena Boagen, 35, whose death they say was not related to the protests.

South Africa’s Minister of Justice accused Ghana of spreading “false information about South Africa in relation to developments in irregular migration.”

There is also a legal issue at the heart of the rift between Ghana and South Africa: Accra claims that the majority of its citizens living in South Africa had the necessary residency documents, but Pretoria disagrees. Neither country has provided evidence to support their claims.

In May, Ghana submitted a petition to the African Union over recurring xenophobia in South Africa, urging action and a fact-finding mission to address attacks on foreigners, which contravene the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement.

Analysts say South Africa risks becoming politically isolated on the continent if urgent steps are not taken to address anti-immigration protests and diplomatic tensions.

Xenophobia is nothing new in South Africa, where some blame foreigners for unemployment and crime.

But many citizens of other African nations want black South Africans not to forget the support and solidarity they received from their fellow Africans during the fight against apartheid until South Africa’s transition to the multiracial democracy it is today.

Additional reporting by Khanyisile Ngcobo and Natasha Booty