The African Union (AU) has backed a broader discussion on migration, a South African government official said on Thursday, after Ghana made a proposal to place xenophobic violence in South Africa on the agenda of an upcoming AU meeting.

Ghana has been a prominent critic of anti-immigrant protests and xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

Clayson Monyela, a South African foreign affairs official, said on X that Pretoria had defeated an attempt to "single out & isolate" the country.

"The AU will discuss the migration issue broadly & look at the 'Pull & Push' factors," Monyela wrote, referring to conditions that drive people to leave their countries and those that draw them elsewhere.

Over the past few months anti-migrant protests have taken place in South Africa.

Ghana repatriated hundreds of its citizens ahead of a June 30 deadline set by a South African anti-migrant movement for undocumented foreigners to leave.

Local media reported that the AU had rejected a proposal from Ghana that would have meant xenophobic violence in South Africa was discussed as a stand-alone agenda item at the body's mid-year coordination meeting in October.

Neither South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation nor a spokesperson for the Ghanaian government had any immediate comment.