SYNAGOGUE Church of All Nations (Scoan) founder Pastor TB Joshua has been warned by the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC) not to visit South Africa any time soon after 84 of its citizens died when his Lagos hotel collapsed.
On September 12, a six-storey hotel building within Pastor Joshua's church premises collapsed at Ikotun in Lagos, killing 115 people of which 84 were South African. Following the tragedy, the South African government has been under pressure to seek legal redress to get compensation for the victims.
South Africa's air force has evacuated the survivors, sending a C-130 plane to bring them to Pretoria and Pastor Joshua has offered to visit South Africa to empathise with the families of the deceased. However, Bandile Masuku, a spokesman for the ANC's youth wing said they would make sure such trip never come to pass.
He added that Pastor Joshua would not be welcome in South Africa and warned the South African government not to issue a visa to him. Tempers are running high in South Africa at the moment as of the 25 injured persons flown back for treatment and rehabilitation at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria, three of them are adjudged to be permanently disabled.
Mr Masuku said: “TB Joshua should not be allowed to come to South Africa until we know what happened to our fellow countrymen at his church. We will make sure we engage with the department of international relations and co-operation to make sure they do not issue him a South African visa.
South Africa's social development deputy minister, Hendrieta Bogopane Zulu, said the government would, however, provide counselling to the affected families to enable them cope with the trauma. At the moment the corpses of 84 South Africans are lying at the Isolo General Hospital morgue in Lagos and a South African forensic team has begun identifying them.
South Africa's high commissioner to Nigeria, Lulu Mnguni, said: “There are 115 bodies out there but we have our 84 and we will then confirm from our people. We have taken DNA samples from family members who were here and we have taken DNA samples from family members in South Africa.
“That will help us determine who is South African and who is not. We will then get our people released back to us.”
Meanwhile, the Lagos State government said it had suspended all decisions on the collapsed building until it gets the report from the panel of inquiry set up by the federal government to investigate the incident. Aderemi Ibirogba, the Lagos State commissioner for information and strategy, said the state took the step to avoid working at cross purposes with the federal government on the issue.
On September 12, a six-storey hotel building within Pastor Joshua's church premises collapsed at Ikotun in Lagos, killing 115 people of which 84 were South African. Following the tragedy, the South African government has been under pressure to seek legal redress to get compensation for the victims.
South Africa's air force has evacuated the survivors, sending a C-130 plane to bring them to Pretoria and Pastor Joshua has offered to visit South Africa to empathise with the families of the deceased. However, Bandile Masuku, a spokesman for the ANC's youth wing said they would make sure such trip never come to pass.
He added that Pastor Joshua would not be welcome in South Africa and warned the South African government not to issue a visa to him. Tempers are running high in South Africa at the moment as of the 25 injured persons flown back for treatment and rehabilitation at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria, three of them are adjudged to be permanently disabled.
Mr Masuku said: “TB Joshua should not be allowed to come to South Africa until we know what happened to our fellow countrymen at his church. We will make sure we engage with the department of international relations and co-operation to make sure they do not issue him a South African visa.
South Africa's social development deputy minister, Hendrieta Bogopane Zulu, said the government would, however, provide counselling to the affected families to enable them cope with the trauma. At the moment the corpses of 84 South Africans are lying at the Isolo General Hospital morgue in Lagos and a South African forensic team has begun identifying them.
South Africa's high commissioner to Nigeria, Lulu Mnguni, said: “There are 115 bodies out there but we have our 84 and we will then confirm from our people. We have taken DNA samples from family members who were here and we have taken DNA samples from family members in South Africa.
“That will help us determine who is South African and who is not. We will then get our people released back to us.”
Meanwhile, the Lagos State government said it had suspended all decisions on the collapsed building until it gets the report from the panel of inquiry set up by the federal government to investigate the incident. Aderemi Ibirogba, the Lagos State commissioner for information and strategy, said the state took the step to avoid working at cross purposes with the federal government on the issue.
