The South African Consul-General to Nigeria, Prof Bobby Moroe, in an interview with Saturday PUNCH on Friday, stated that immigration authorities had no record of any visa application or rejection involving the singer or her team.
Moroe urged those alleging that visas were denied to submit the names of the affected persons and their visa application reference numbers to enable the mission to verify the claims.
He stated, “The immigration said they were not aware of the application or the rejection. But what will assist us is if the people who are making these allegations will send us the names and reference numbers of Ayra Starr and her team; if they were rejected and why they were rejected, so that we can double-check.”
The reaction followed calls by some Nigerians, including former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole and the senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, urging the Federal Government to review visa applications submitted by South African artistes and their entourages in line with the principle of reciprocity.
In a statement on Thursday, Akpoti-Uduaghan stated, “If it is confirmed that our Nigerian artiste Ayra Starr and her team were previously denied entry visas to South Africa, leading to the cancellation of their engagements, then Nigeria should respond with equivalent measures until Nigerian citizens and artistes are accorded fair and respectful treatment,”.
Findings showed that in February 2024, Starr and her team were allegedly denied visas to South Africa ahead of the scheduled performances of the singer in Johannesburg and Cape Town. The organisers of the concerts, Steyn Entertainment, attributed the cancellation of the shows to visa denial in a statement by its Managing Director, Dale De Ruig.
De Ruig stated, “Regrettably, as has happened numerous times with other artistes from West Africa, through no fault of their own, visas were denied despite exploring every avenue possible to secure visas for Ayra Starr and her team.”
He added, “We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause those who have already purchased tickets. All previously purchased tickets will be fully refunded within seven business days via Quicket.”
Efforts to obtain the reaction of Starr were unsuccessful, as an email sent to an address listed on her official Instagram page had yet to receive a response.
As the diplomatic row deepened, Grammy award-winning South African singer, Tyla, removed Lagos from the list of places she planned to visit on her world tour. The planned stop was expected to be her first headline concert in Nigeria during the country’s busy Detty December season.
However, the announcement of the visit triggered outrage among Nigerians, who criticized her silence over xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in her country. Nigerian celebrities and citizens linked the show to reports of anti-migrant violence in South Africa, including the death of a Nigerian national, Chika Ibe, in Cape Town.
Social media activist Martins Otse threatened to mobilize the Ratel Movement to physically prevent the concert, declaring, “Tyla’s show will not happen in Nigeria.” Social media personality Solomon Buchi urged followers to reject the performance, while media personality Do2dtun called on the Nigeria Immigration Service to deny Tyla and her team visas. An online petition seeking to ban Tyla from Nigeria until xenophobic attacks ceased gathered thousands of signatures.
A check on the official tour website of the singer on Friday revealed that the December 22 Lagos date had been removed, while dates across Europe, North America, Cape Town, and Johannesburg remained on the schedule. Neither Tyla nor her management issued any public explanation for the change.
The cancellation further fuelled hostility on social media, with many South Africans celebrating her decision. A South African X user, @Abahambekr, wrote, “See Nigerians trying to stop Tyla from performing in Lagos during her APOP tour. If that happens, we want each and every Nigerian gone with immediate effect.”
The user added, “We still have more than 500,000 Nigerians in South Africa. We want all of them gone back to their countries, and we won’t be nice about it. These ungrateful bastards are angry because we don’t want their people to come into our country illegally, to sell drugs in our country and to run businesses that are meant for South Africans according to our law. Now they are trying to attack innocent people who go by the law wherever they go.”
He continued, “We will make sure there is no Nigerian in our country if Tyla’s show gets cancelled for any reason, and we will see who will cry on social media. We are done being nice and diplomatic.” He concluded, “We will take the law into our own hands, and every Nigerian in South Africa will suffer the consequences.”
Another South African X user, @LeslyJohn7, posted, “As they should! SA has one job now; no Nigerian artist should ever perform in SA, period!”
Similarly, @Tyger1960 wrote, “Tyla is good. She removed Lagos from her tour. Now it’s time for SA and Nigeria to accept they don’t like each other and cut all diplomatic ties. Nigerians in SA must go back to Nigeria and South Africans in Nigeria must come back home.”
Another account posted, “There’s still millions of Nigerians in South Africa… telling Tyla not to come there is risky for your Igbo and Yoruba brothers who are refusing to go home. All hell will break loose!!!”
Speaking on the development, a former Nigerian Consul to Cameroon and Delegate to the World Expo and Economic Development Centre in Paris, Rasheed Akinkuolie, said the removal of Lagos from her tour was inevitable given the diplomatic tension.
Akinkuolie stated, “The relationship between Nigeria and South Africa is still very tense and, as such, this is not the appropriate time to stage cultural events in both countries. Participants in such events may be harmed,”.
Akinkuolie argued that the South African Government should compensate Nigerians for the loss of lives, businesses, and property destroyed during attacks, saying the matter should be resolved through dialogue. He warned that if South Africa failed to address the issue, Nigeria could consider measures such as the seizure of South African assets in the country as compensation. He also faulted the manner in which South African authorities handled immigration enforcement, noting that Nigeria, alongside countries such as Ghana and Zimbabwe, would seek legal redress at the International Criminal Court.
Responding to reports regarding Tyla, South African Consul-General Moroe said the mission had yet to receive formal communication from the organisers. Moroe stated, “On Tyla, we have not received any formal complaint or notification from the promoters, although we have also seen reports on social media, so we cannot confirm or deny them.”
Moroe maintained that diplomatic relations between Nigeria and South Africa remained cordial, stating, “The fact that our President was proactive in requesting that President Bola Tinubu receive South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation is indicative of South Africa’s willingness to reconcile differences between the two countries.”
He added, “The meeting that took place on Monday between the ministers went very well, and we believe it was very productive,”.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has urged South Africa to take concrete steps to implement the Memorandum of Understanding on the Early Warning Mechanism, while renewing its demand for compensation for Nigerians who lost property during the recent wave of xenophobic attacks.
A credible source at the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “Nigeria expects action on the Early Warning Mechanism MoU as the delegation returns to Pretoria. Nigeria also looks forward to an end to xenophobic attacks on its nationals resident in South Africa,”.
The source added that the Federal Government was pursuing compensation for affected Nigerians, insisting that victims deserved restitution for losses suffered.
The latest position follows diplomatic engagements that began after a South African delegation led by the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, Ronald Lamola, arrived in Abuja last Friday on the directive of President Cyril Ramaphosa to meet President Bola Tinubu. After Tinubu declined to receive the delegation initially, a telephone conversation between Ramaphosa and Tinubu prompted the Nigerian President to direct the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, to meet with the South African envoys.
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