S’Africa rules out compensation for deported Nigerians

South African Government has ruled out the possibility of compensating the 125 Nigerians who were recently denied entry into the country.

 Minister of Correctional Services, Mrs. Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, made known the position of her government in Abuja on Thursday.

Mapisa-Nqakula was in the Presidential Villa as the leader of an eight-man special delegation sent by President Jacob Zuma to formally apologise for the incident, which caused a diplomatic row between the two countries.

She said, “The issue of compensation is out of the question. We don’t understand why South Africa will have to compensate.

“We believe that it is enough that we have come out and apologised. It is enough that we have demonstrated our goodwill to the government of Nigeria; it is enough that the President has sent a special envoy to reiterate his commitment to the bi-national with Nigeria and to improve working relationship with Nigeria.”

She however said her country had commenced investigation into the activities of the airport officials who turned back the Nigerians on the gound that their Yellow Fever Vaccination Cards were fakes.

Source