The founder and commander-in-chief of South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters, Julius Malema, has criticised Ghana’s evacuation of its citizens, calling it unnecessary that nevertheless risks creating the impression that all South Africans behave in the same way.

Speaking to the media, he said it was too quick for the president of Ghana to take the action and that the president should have given South Africa time to resolve the issue.

He added that Ghana’s response did not promote dialogue or diplomatic engagement and had created an extreme situation.

"We think it was too quick we'll still resolve this, president of Ghana should have given us some time to really deal with this matter, we don't think Ghana responded in a manner that reinforces dialogue and diplomatic engagement.

"It actually creates a very bad extreme situation which is not, the reaction of Ghana should have been postponed a bit to give us an opportunity to deal with what is happening here," he stated.

Mr Malema urged South Africans not to adopt a similar stance and to pursue diplomatic engagement with Ghana to resolve the situation.

He reiterated that only a small number of people are responsible for the attacks and said they were pressing the South African government to act against those individuals.

He also appealed to victims of xenophobic attacks in South Africa to be patient and allow authorities time to address the problem.

He advised anyone who does not feel safe, especially legally documented Ghanaians, to go to the nearest police station for protection and guidance.

"Is a selected few and then we are pursuing and persuading the government to still act on those few and then we are saying to them, they must give us some time they must be patient and those who don't feel safe.

"Especially the legally documented Ghanaians should be able to run to police stations for safety and they will be directed to rightful places and they will be secured, this is an emotional issue, we understand them," he said.