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Martins Matloga, Head of Consular Services at the South African High Commission in Lagos, made this revelation at a breakfast forum on Wednesday in Lagos.
All genuine business people in the country who hitherto faced undue hardship n securing visas into South Africa should expect smoother operation, anchored on customer satisfaction and better service delivery.
“It is my wish that genuine business people do not have any problem whatsoever doing business.
We, as South Africans, do need the genuine business people in Nigeria. And at the same time, we expect genuine South African business people to come and invest in Nigeria.
This would help to boost the quality of life of members of both countries…I think you do realize that we do get people who pretend to be genuine business people whereas they are not.
Those kinds of people shouldn’t be accorded the same type of respect we accord to genuine business people.”
He also lamented the stress genuine business people go through, and opined: “For Genuine business people, we won’t want them to come over and over again applying for visa.
…How do we know genuine business people? We look at the passport. If you look at a person’s passport, it tells you the whole story. It tells you the countries that the person has been. If I look at the passport and see that the person has travelled to parts of Africa, Europe and America, we say these are the people. But when one presents a virgin passport, you start wondering how genuine the person is.” He further encouraged business people to attach their old passports to their current ones while applying for visa.
Some participants registered their dissatisfaction over the exasperating service delivery at the High Commission, particularly as it involved delays in processing visa applications. Responding to the complaints, Mr. Peter Malepe, a principal officer of the High Commission, assured them of a better service delivery, whilst simultaneously stating that there is a high number of applications daily and it is impractical for all of them to be granted as they come. “If you have a road that is built to take hundred cars an hour and you have a million cars on that road, already you have a challenge,” he stated.
XL Management Services Ltd sponsored the forum, which had in attendance an array of prominent businessmen and relevant stakeholders from Nigeria and South Africa. The Western Cape Investment Promotion Agency (WESGRO) packaged a trade delegation representing nine companies in South Africa. The companies comprised Sumaro Offshore Support with interests in Engineering and Fabrication, MRH Marine interested in Oil and Gas, Kwikspace Modular interested in Private potential agents, and CA Global Recruitment interested in potential clients. Others included Oro Chains (Pty) Ltd (jewellery wholesalers), Ngikhona Wholesalers (safety and security), MTD Manufacturing Ltd (dealers in packaging/food), Zhauns group of companies (small machines dealers), and South African Table Grape (importers of grapes).
All genuine business people in the country who hitherto faced undue hardship n securing visas into South Africa should expect smoother operation, anchored on customer satisfaction and better service delivery.
“It is my wish that genuine business people do not have any problem whatsoever doing business.
We, as South Africans, do need the genuine business people in Nigeria. And at the same time, we expect genuine South African business people to come and invest in Nigeria.
This would help to boost the quality of life of members of both countries…I think you do realize that we do get people who pretend to be genuine business people whereas they are not.
Those kinds of people shouldn’t be accorded the same type of respect we accord to genuine business people.”
He also lamented the stress genuine business people go through, and opined: “For Genuine business people, we won’t want them to come over and over again applying for visa.
…How do we know genuine business people? We look at the passport. If you look at a person’s passport, it tells you the whole story. It tells you the countries that the person has been. If I look at the passport and see that the person has travelled to parts of Africa, Europe and America, we say these are the people. But when one presents a virgin passport, you start wondering how genuine the person is.” He further encouraged business people to attach their old passports to their current ones while applying for visa.
Some participants registered their dissatisfaction over the exasperating service delivery at the High Commission, particularly as it involved delays in processing visa applications. Responding to the complaints, Mr. Peter Malepe, a principal officer of the High Commission, assured them of a better service delivery, whilst simultaneously stating that there is a high number of applications daily and it is impractical for all of them to be granted as they come. “If you have a road that is built to take hundred cars an hour and you have a million cars on that road, already you have a challenge,” he stated.
XL Management Services Ltd sponsored the forum, which had in attendance an array of prominent businessmen and relevant stakeholders from Nigeria and South Africa. The Western Cape Investment Promotion Agency (WESGRO) packaged a trade delegation representing nine companies in South Africa. The companies comprised Sumaro Offshore Support with interests in Engineering and Fabrication, MRH Marine interested in Oil and Gas, Kwikspace Modular interested in Private potential agents, and CA Global Recruitment interested in potential clients. Others included Oro Chains (Pty) Ltd (jewellery wholesalers), Ngikhona Wholesalers (safety and security), MTD Manufacturing Ltd (dealers in packaging/food), Zhauns group of companies (small machines dealers), and South African Table Grape (importers of grapes).
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