BABES WODUMO will sadly be watching the BET Awards on TV today.
This after the star, a nominee in the Best International Act: Africa category, couldn’t secure a US visa on time to attend the big event in Los Angeles, California.
She tried this week to get government to intervene, but her efforts were in vain.
Yesterday, in what seemed like an apology to her fans, she released a statement clarifying the confusion.
The statement reads, in part: “The WestInk Records has noted public interest surrounding the participation of Bongekile Simelane (aka Babes Wodumo), at the Black Entertainment Awards ceremony to take place in LA at the weekend.
“Babes was nominated with five other African performers in the category of Best Act – Africa. This nomination was made public on 25 May.”
“The company started to explore the possibility of her participation at the ceremony. After a consultation with both Babes and the BET team, WestInk took a decision that Babes should attend the award ceremony.
“WestInk and BET started a process to facilitate her attendance at the ceremony.
“WestInk applied for the visas through the US Visa Portal. We paid the amount as prescribed by the US’s immigration policy.
“The online system provided Babes an interview appointment on 6 July, a date too late for the intended travel.
“Due to our commitment to BET, we decided to engage the US Consulate’s Durban Office to explain our predicament.
“The office informed us there was a backlog, and we had to provide motivation for the consideration of the Visa office.
“We provided our motivation, supported by the City of Ethekwini. But it got declined.
“We wish to state that WestInk respects the laws and processes of other countries, the same way it does with local prescripts.
“In this regard, we’re not at liberty to judge whether or not our failure to acquire the visa on time was reasonable or not.
