"I will hold meetings with the Nigerian federal government
authorities as well as the Lagos state authorities with a view to
expedite the repatriation process," Radebe told journalists on Thursday.
South Africa’s President, Jacob
Zuma, has appointed a minister to serve as special envoy to Nigeria in
the hopes of speeding up the process of returning the remains of 85
South Africans who died in Nigeria when a guest house at T.B Joshua’s
Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) collapsed on September 12.
According to News 24, Jeff Radebe, a minister in the Presidency will be dispatched to South Africa to work with Nigerian authorities in bringing the deceased remains to South Africa so that families can bury their loved ones.
"I will hold meetings with the Nigerian federal government authorities as well as the Lagos state authorities with a view to expedite the repatriation process," Radebe told journalists on Thursday.
"We would like to reassure the families and South Africans at large that government has not taken the foot off the pedal," Radebe added.
Jeff Radebe has previously served as a spokesman for the South African government on the SCOAN issue and had urged the Nigerian government to investigate the cause of the SCOAN tragedy in September.
A total of 116 people, mainly South African pilgrims, died when a guesthouse on the SCOAN premises collapsed on September 12.
Although, T. B. Joshua and some of his supporters have claimed that a plane circling over SCOAN premises may have been responsible for the tragedy, Nigerian authorities have confirmed the foundation of the five-story guest house was sanctioned to carry only two floors.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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