Ghanaian authorities are repatriating the first group of 800 citizens they say have registered to be flown home from South Africa on Wednesday morning.
The BBC saw dozens of buses chartered by the Ghanaian embassy dropping off passengers at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo airport around 03:00 local time (01:00 GMT) on Wednesday.
There were men, women and children of all ages. A smaller group of people also arrived in a police van and were kept apart from the majority of passengers and watched over by police.
It follows a wave of protests against illegal immigration in South African cities in recent weeks, leading to fears there could be a resurgence in xenophobic violence in the country.
All the passengers were registered by embassy and airport staff.
Ghanaian authorities told the BBC that an initial 300 people would leave on Wednesday morning. The remaining registered citizens were still being screened and would depart at a later date.
Few of the departing passengers wanted to speak to journalists but Rudolph, who’s lived in South Africa for 10 years and runs a salon, told the BBC he was leaving because of the recent protests.