• Ebraheem Al Samadi, celebrated for his role on Dubai Bling, chose South Africa as his exquisite holiday destination.
• He praised the country`s stunning landscapes, rich history, and the warmth of its people, declaring it an ideal vacation destination.
• Al Samadi revealed plans to expand his Forever Rose café franchise to South Africa and teases what he describes as the ultimate season of Dubai Bling.
`My name is Ebraheem, and this is my tongue. Beware!` The Blooming Man says in Netflix`s Dubai Bling, an iconic line that cements his place as `the son of a king, and the son of a queen`.
Ebraheem Al Samadi is a polarising character on the show, but when we meet on a rainy day at Cape Town`s City Hall, the rather humble and respectful Ebraheem we often see caring for his mom on the show insists I don`t stand as I`m an expecting mom. Instead, he shakes my hand, laughing, as he tells me about his drive into town and a few interesting characters he`s met on the streets.
Ebraheem is on a holiday visit to the country organised by Globe Travel Tours, whom he praises for their professionalism, friendliness, and experience in selecting the right places to visit in SA.
`South Africa is beautiful,` he says. `The scenic views are absolutely priceless.`
`South Africa is hope`
Ebraheem gushes over South Africa, saying: `Every part I`ve seen of Cape Town is better than the last.`
Our interview takes place before his trip to Johannesburg, although he`s rather impressed with the warm welcome he`s received thus far in Cape Town.
`It`s as good or even better than the Middle East,` he says.
`People are very generous with snacks and food!` he laughs.
`I`ve been getting sweets ever since I arrived, and I literally have this `sweet corner` in the hotel room that I keep waking up to and getting different snacks from. It just goes to show the amount of kindness and generosity of South Africans.`
As for the South African food itself and the stops along the way - which have included taking the cable car to the top of Table Mountain, having high tea at the Mount Nelson Hotel, and driving through Hout Bay and along Chapman`s Peak - he says, `Everything is priceless.`
`Every single part [of South Africa] is historically beautiful,` he explains. `Even just entering this building [City Hall] and seeing the statue of Nelson Mandela, and knowing the power that it had at that time, there`s nowhere in the world that you would get the beauty, the history, the landscape, the kindness of the people. For me, South Africa is the ideal vacation spot, honestly, from my heart.`
And the food?
`I felt like my whole life, I haven`t been living!` he gushes about his Mariner`s Wharf fish and chips.
Ebraheem is also championing the Palestinian cause while he`s here. He has taken a Zumba class to raise awareness and hiked Newlands Forest, where he was seen on video carrying his mom on his back.
`My mom doesn`t mind hiking, but it`s hard for her to go up steps,` he explains. So he carried her.
`I wanted her to see the view at the top,` he tells me.
On the importance of highlighting the genocide happening in Gaza, he says: `One of the reasons why I chose South Africa, it was always on my list my bucket list, but, when I heard how vocal South Africans are about Palestine, I was like that`s where I want to be.`
He adds:
When you follow people who have humanity, you`re going to get everything else after it. You`re going to get the kindness, the welcome, you`re going to get the good food, because these are humans. These are actual people.
`South Africa has experienced what is currently happening, and they`re telling the world, `It is not the way to go. We`ve already tried that, it didn`t work. You cannot oppress an entire race`. If you harm one person, you have the whole entire community against you. What about killing 35 000 people, of which most are children?
`South Africa is saying, `Hello, Israel. This is not the way to do it. We`ve been through this, learn from our history. This happened to us. We had apartheid. We had walls in between communities. You cannot separate community`.`
He says South Africa has only experienced 30 years of democracy, but sometime in the future, the country could very well `be at the top of the world.`
`So hope starts here,` he says. `I say, South Africa is hope for the world.`
Bringing Forever Rose to SA and the `ultimate` season of Dubai Bling
Season two of Dubai Bling ended on a happier note, with Ebraheem mending fences with Zeina Khoury and Safa Siddiqui as he opened his Besties café with Danya `Diva Dee` Mohammed.
The Blooming Man also owns the very successful Forever Rose café, which he says he`ll soon be franchising. His inbox is flooded with openings in Joburg.
`So, is that confirmation?` I ask, all coy. “Can I break that story?`
`You can break that story,` he says.
While dates are not confirmed, he teases a location with `the most beautiful views of South Africa because [he`s] personally in love with it`.
`And I also want to bring a lot of the South African heritage to our designs. You know, everything we do with Forever Rose is black and white, so we want to have, like, a painting of Nelson Mandela in black and white; we want to have all these things to show pride. I don`t want to bring something from outside in. I want to highlight the South African flavour.`
It`s giving: `Habibi, come to South Africa!`
Ebraheem will hopefully make his way back to SA very soon then, as filming for season three of Dubai Bling has already wrapped after all.
On the upcoming season, he confirms Kris Fade and Lojain Omran will not be returning, while it will likely be released closer to the end of the year.
He teases:
This will be the ultimate season because we all felt tired afterwards. Us, the crew, everyone, because we did a lot.
`Season three goes really deep into our lives,` he says, `and when you open your life to the camera and to the world, it`s not easy because not everyone`s going to judge you according to the way you want to be judged.`
He explains that viewers don`t always get to see the larger-than-life stars in their entirety.
`But honestly, I don`t care what anyone thinks because I know who I am,` he says. `I am me. I believe in what I say. I stand very firm in what I say. However, I`m not perfect, and I don`t have an issue showing my faults.`
`A lot of people, not to mention names, pretend to be someone they`re not. With Ebraheem, what you see is what you get. Some people accept it, they love it, they appreciate it, and some people say, `No, he`s too much.` But you can`t make everyone happy.`
Flexing a new phrase he learnt during his stay and in practice for his Forever Rose establishment in SA, perhaps, he concludes in true Ebraheem style, with a bit of South African flair: `There are more than two billion people in the world. You`re not going to make everyone happy. So, I only care about the people who actually care about me... Everyone else can `fokof`.`

It’s ironic that with so many South Africans trying to leave the country, it’s a visa backlog for people trying to get INTO the country that’s stifling economic growth.
According to a report from Business Tech, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has a visa backlog of 62 000 applications. These are for people and workers trying to get into the country to fill critical skills shortages.
Now, visa agent Xpat, says the DHA are rejecting applications out of hand to simply try clear the huge visa backlog. The agent specialises in work permits for people coming to South Africa. It says individuals, HR professionals and businesses face lengthy delays and a needlessly complex application process
WHAT’S THE REASON FOR THE VISA BACKLOG?
Since COVID, there have been a number of changes to rectify problems within the DHA. And Xpatweb believes these administrative processes have led to mounting rejections for frivolous reasons.
“While the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, has announced several mitigation measures. Such as various concessions extending the validity of long-term visas. The deployment of more departmental resources has not solved the problem,” Xpatweb said.
MOUNTING REJECTIONS
The agency said it had seen several rejected visas stating that applicants had filed the application incorrectly, despite this not being the case. The company believes these challenges are hurting the economy as many businesses and applicants are left frustrated and have to turn their back on South Africa.
Navigating the work-visa application process will continue to be a challenge for individuals until the visa backlog is cleared. But understanding the difficulties of the process, the qualifying criteria and being fully prepared for every aspect of the application process will help.
If this fails, another way to speed up the process is to consult with Xpatweb and follow a Legal Escalation Process. This places the DHA and Embassy under pressure to ensure a reasonable outcome.
The current visa backlog is only expected to be resolved by mid-2024 at the earliest.



Key Takeaways
• Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are planning to introduce a single tourist visa.
• This visa, similar to the Schengen one, will permit entry to all these five countries for a short period.
• GCC countries will soon also launch a single visa.
Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have announced plans to simplify the movement of foreign travelers within their territories without the need to apply for separate documents.
Just recently, the authorities of the five countries agreed to start working on the launch of a single Schengen-style visa, VisaGuide.World reports.
The launch of this visa would mean that travelers will not need a separate visa for each country. Instead, the new single visa will enable them to enter Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe without needing any other additional documents.
Zambia and Zimbabwe already have a so-called “univisa”, which permits its holders to enter the two countries with the same document as well as permits short stays to Botswana.
However, in order for the “univisa” to include more countries and make the experience of this part of the continent more convenient and enjoyable, an expansion to include Angola and Zimbabwe will soon take place.
Commenting on the plans to introduce a Schengen-style visa that will permit entry to Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, the authorities said that the main aim of this move is to attract more visitors.
They believe that the single visa will make the countries more attractive as the holders of the document will not have to worry about applying for multiple visas. Travelers will also be able to explore more countries during a single stay without spending much on flights to reach the area at different times of the year.
GCC Countries Will Soon Launch a Single Visa, Too
In addition to the countries mentioned above, GCC countries - UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait - will also soon launch a single visa.
The GCC countries have decided to name their single visa “GCC Grand Tours”. On the basis of this visa, travelers will be able to stay in the territory of the GCC countries for more than 30 days without having to undergo any other procedures.
The “GCC Grand Tours” visa will work similarly to the Schengen visa. This means that if a foreigner gets issued a visa from one of the GCC countries, they will be able to enter the others too without having to apply for a separate visa.
The authorities of the GCC countries have noted that this type of visa will help them to retain tourists. Moreover, they stressed that this visa will help the GCC countries to become more popular destinations.

The department needs to establish authenticity before granting spousal or relative visas
A major headache for the department of home affairs in processing temporary residence visas is having to establish the authenticity of relationships claimed between individuals.
Home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi revealed this in a written reply to a parliamentary question by DA MP Thembisile Khanyile who asked about the current backlog of processing applications for temporary residence visas .

The rising cost of living has bumped up the number of people at risk of poverty in the country to 12.7 million .
`I can`t make ends meet`. This is a phrase that is heard more and more frequently among the people of Spain. Rising food prices, the supply chain crisis and the war in Ukraine have further widened the gap between the cost of living and the salary that many workers in Spain receive at the end of the month.

This imbalance between income and expenditure has led to a significant loss of purchasing power, which economists estimate to be around 1,200 euros. This has meant that almost half of the adult population, 48.7%, find it difficult to make ends meet and are limping towards payday. The statistics are revealed in the XIV report on `The State of Poverty in Spain` by the European Anti-Poverty Network in Spain (EAPN-ES).

This research includes for the first time an analysis of the relationship between poverty and access to housing. `The scarcity of affordable rents and the difficulties in acquiring a property increase inequalities and contribute to the persistence of social exclusion`, the report states. Indeed, housing-related expenses are the main drag on economic recovery for households.

Rent payments represent a high percentage of the monthly outlay of families living in Spain. `The average price has increased almost three times more than the income per person, which means a greater economic effort and a worsening of poverty`, stresses the report.

Therefore, the number of people at risk of poverty and/or social exclusion in Spain has reached 12.7 million people, some 400,000 more than last year and half a percentage point more than in 2022. `This is due to the rising cost of living,` confirmed the report`s authors.

Families with children are hardest hit by the rising cost of living, with child poverty rising from 27.8% to 28.9% compared to the previous year: some 2.3 million children and adolescents are at risk of poverty. In this regard, EAPN-ES points out that there are no poor children without poor homes, insisting also that being born into a vulnerable household increases the chances of staying poor in adulthood.
The face of poverty: women and young people

In Spain, poverty has a woman`s face, not because the rules of the Spanish language dictate that it is a feminine noun (`la pobreza`), but because this precarious state of affairs affects more women and young people than anyone else. `The data show that the feminisation of poverty is a structural problem`, said EAPN-ES.

Last year 5.1 million women were classed as poor, some 300,000 more women than men, and this is due to the continuing gender gap in the world of work. Research by EAPN-ES shows that having precarious, less stable employment doubles the risk of poverty.

Therefore, in 2023 around 2.5 million working people were poor. This is mainly due to the quality of the labour market that, despite the improvements resulting from the latest labour reform and the increase in the minimum wage, is still characterised by instability, affecting women and young people in particular.

Despite the worrying figures, EAPN-ES stresses that the situation would be much worse without the protective action of central government, which helps to prevent 10.6 million people from falling into poverty and some 2.4 million into severe poverty. EAPN-ES also highlights the essential role of public pensions as a factor in sustaining the quality of life for a part of the population: pensions alone reduce the risk of poverty by 16.4 points, i.e. some 7.8 million people. However, EAPN-ES proposes they should increase and extend the policies implemented in recent years and, above all, to extend the measures of the state`s `social shield` of support that expires on 30 June, `especially those focused on the most vulnerable groups.`