South African Consul-General to Nigeria, Prof. Bobby Moroe, has explained that Afrobeats singer, Ayra Starr, was denied a South African visa in February 2024 after submitting an inappropriate yellow fever certificate.
Moroe said the visa issue involving the Nigerian music star was not a fresh development, contrary to the impression created by recent discussions surrounding visa access for Nigerian entertainers travelling to South Africa.
The diplomat made the clarification in an interview on Saturday, saying the matter occurred in February 2024 and was subsequently resolved between the South African mission and the singer’s team.
According to Moroe, the visa application initially failed to satisfy the requirements because the yellow fever certificate submitted by Starr’s team was not the appropriate document required for the application.
He explained that instead of providing a yellow fever certificate from the applicant’s home country, the team submitted a certificate associated with another country.
The clarification sheds new light on the circumstances surrounding the cancellation of Ayra Starr’s South African performances in February 2024.
At the time, organisers of the planned “In The City Ayra Starr” shows announced that the singer and her team had been unable to secure the necessary visas. The performances were scheduled for Johannesburg and Cape Town on February 16 and 17, 2024, respectively.
The organisers had said the cancellation was regrettable and noted that visa difficulties had affected other West African artistes in the past. Contemporary reports, however, did not publicly specify the yellow fever documentation issue now disclosed by the South African envoy.
Moroe said the matter was eventually resolved amicably after the South African authorities engaged with Starr’s team to explain the documentation requirements.
He added that the singer was later issued a one-year visa, allowing her to travel to South Africa for performances in 2024.
The envoy therefore rejected any suggestion that Ayra Starr had been singled out because of her celebrity status or because she was Nigerian.
Moroe stressed that South Africa’s visa process is based on established immigration requirements and that applicants are expected to provide the necessary documentation irrespective of their profession, popularity or social standing.
He said the same rules applied to everyone seeking permission to enter the country.
The Consul-General noted that an applicant’s fame does not automatically guarantee the approval of a visa, just as being an entertainer does not make an applicant ineligible.
He explained that immigration officials assess applications according to the prescribed requirements and make decisions based on whether those requirements have been met.
The yellow fever certificate is among the travel documents that may be required from travellers entering countries where proof of vaccination is applicable. Moroe said applicants were expected to submit the appropriate certificate from their home country as part of the process.
His comments come against the backdrop of renewed concerns about the experiences of Nigerians applying for South African visas.
Recent discussions have included claims that South Africa had stopped issuing visas to Nigerians, particularly amid concerns raised over the experiences of some entertainers and other travellers.
Moroe dismissed the claim, insisting that South Africa had not suspended visa issuance to Nigerians.
He said applications continued to be processed and that Nigerians who satisfied the requirements would be granted visas.
The diplomat maintained that visa decisions were not based on nationality, celebrity status or other personal considerations but on whether applicants fulfilled the conditions for entry.
His position also appeared aimed at separating immigration administration from political disputes or public controversies between Nigeria and South Africa.
Moroe said the South African mission does not make visa decisions based on political considerations and maintained that applicants who meet the necessary requirements would receive visas.
He further disclosed that the number of Nigerian visa applications being handled by the South African mission had increased.
According to him, the mission previously received between 40 and 60 visa applications monthly, but the figure had risen to between 60 and 80 applications per month.
The increase, he said, demonstrated continued demand among Nigerians seeking to travel to South Africa despite the concerns surrounding the visa process.
The South African Consulate in Lagos also provided a practical example of the continued processing of Nigerian applications when it issued visas to five Nigerian disc jockeys travelling to South Africa for an event.
One of the DJs, Solomon Akinkunmi, confirmed the development.
Akinkunmi said five DJs received visas, with him receiving a one-year visa while the others were granted three-month visas.
The development provides further context to Moroe’s rejection of claims that South Africa has stopped granting visas to Nigerians.
For Ayra Starr, the latest explanation revisits a controversy that first became public in February 2024 when her scheduled South African performances were called off.
The singer had been billed to headline the “In The City” events in Johannesburg and Cape Town, with other artistes, including Daliwonga and Musa Keys, also scheduled to appear. Reports at the time stated that visa problems prevented Starr and members of her team from travelling for the shows.
The cancellations generated disappointment among fans and renewed conversations about visa challenges faced by African artistes travelling across the continent.
However, Moroe’s latest account suggests that the issue involving Starr was ultimately a documentation problem rather than a blanket refusal to allow the singer or Nigerian entertainers into South Africa.
The Consul-General’s explanation also underscores the importance of meeting documentary requirements when applying for international visas.
While celebrity status can attract considerable public attention when a visa application encounters difficulties, Moroe insisted that South African immigration officials apply the same basic requirements to all applicants.
He therefore urged travellers to ensure that their documentation is accurate and meets the conditions stipulated by South African authorities before submitting their applications.
The clarification is expected to provide additional context to the long-running discussion surrounding Ayra Starr’s cancelled South African shows and the broader question of visa access for Nigerian travellers.
For now, the South African mission maintains that it has not stopped issuing visas to Nigerians, while the Ayra Starr case cited by Moroe was resolved in 2024 with the singer subsequently receiving a one-year visa.