ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula has slammed what he argues is misrepresentation of the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa relaxing visa restrictions for Nigerian nationals wishing to travel to South Africa to do business or as tourists.
Ramaphosa announced the decision this week while hosting his Nigerian counterpart Bola Tinibu sparking outrage from some opposition leaders and the general public largely because of the country’s immigration crisis and in particular perceptions of the involvement of Nigerians in criminal activities.
“There’s been a complete distortion to create an impression that the President said Nigerians should just come here walking and without passports or anything, that’s not what we said,”said Mbalula.
The Secretary General said Nigeria had already relaxed visa requirements for South Africans and it made sense for Pretoria to do the same.
“When the President was in China the government of China raised this with him to say they like doing business in South Africa and you see their companies even here but getting visas was difficult and the President said it would be looked into. Just like us now, it’s easy to go to Nigeria, I can just wake up now and go to Nigeria, simple,” he said.
Mbalula said even trade volume between the two continental superpowers still favoured South Africa with more than a hundred South African companies doing business in Nigeria compared to just about ten Nigerian companies trading in South Africa.
Mbalula did express frustration with the involvement of foreign nationals in criminal activities and supported calls for the deportation of illegal immigrants.