Pretoria - The South African and Nigerian governments have clarified perceptions that there are bilateral tensions between the two countries, following the deportation of125 Nigerian citizens from OR Tambo International Airport - for allegedly being in possession of fraudulent yellow fever vaccine certificates.
Pretoria said that on that day, there was an operation at OR Tambo International Airport to check all passengers arriving from countries which require yellow fever certificates. The World Health Organisation classifies Nigeria as one of the 44 countries at risk of exposure to the yellow fever virus.
On the same weekend, 28 South African citizens were deported from Lagos, Nigeria, after arriving at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport on a South African Airways flight.
The passengers were deported on the grounds of having invalid documentation and relevant health certificate clearance while some were asked for their letters of invitation, stating their reason for visiting Nigeria.
The incident, which was widely reported in various Nigerien newspapers and electronic media, was labeled as harsh and unfriendly. Some media claimed that Nigeria would retaliate by sanctioning South African companies operating in Nigeria - a point that both governments dismissed on Thursday.
In a joint media briefing held in Pretoria, the two countries condemned the incident, saying it was unfortunate.
"The governments of South Africa and Nigeria view these developments in a serious light. Accordingly, the two countries have, through diplomatic channels, consulted at the highest levels on ways of avoiding a recurrence of such developments," read a joint statement issued at the conference that was attended by International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim and delegates from the Nigerian High Commission.
The South African government has sent a letter of apology to the Nigerian government following the incident which it believes could have been handled better.
Cabinet has also condemned the incident and has put in place a high-level Ministerial Task Team comprised of the various affected ministries to investigate the incident.
According to the joint statement, the two countries have agreed to revive the Bi-National Commission and the Immigration Working Group in order to strengthen the historic bilateral relationship between the two economic power houses of Africa.
It was also proposed that the national and provincial departments of health should consider re-opening the vaccination clinic at the OR Tambo International Airport so that passengers without the yellow fever card can be vaccinated upon arrival at the airport, rather than be deported.
Another resolution is that the health authorities from the two countries should exchange vaccine batch numbers and details about the official institutions that administer the vaccine for verification purposes at the port of entry.
This information would also be made available to the Missions in Lagos and Abuja who issue visas based on the proof of a yellow fever certificate and airlines.
It was further proposed that immigration officials should be the first officials that deal with the passengers at the port of entry and if they experience challenges, they should invite other units such as health to help and not the other way round.
For mass deportations, it was agreed that senior officials at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, including Protocol, should be consulted by immigration and health officials at the airport before undertaking such action.
"We believe that these measures, when fully implemented, will address the current immigration challenges affecting citizens from the two sister African countries and help us avoid a recurrence of the regrettable incidences we have seen recently," said Ibrahim.
The deputy minister also downplayed suggestions that this incident has put a strain on the bilateral relations and reports that SA was only targeting Nigerian citizens. He also said Pretoria was not aware of any reported security incidents at the airport targeting Nigerian citizens. But he said such incidents would be reported and dealt with through the diplomatic channels.
