Having been in the country since 2003, when he arrived from TP Mazembe, Bageta spent five years at Ajax Cape Town before being let go by the Urban Warriors meaning he already met the requirements that enable him to apply for permanent residency.
Bajo Bajani, the players’ agent, explains that they made application to the Department of Home Affairs towards the end of last year with the permit only then being granted two weeks ago.
“We made the application at the time when there was a possibility of him going to AmaZulu. But he then got the permanent residence permit some two weeks ago just before the start of the new season. He has now been registered as a local by Maritzburg,” says Bajani.
Quentin Jetto, the Maritzburg United manager concurs with Bajani, adding that they have already also exhausted their foreign quota by registering five other foreign players.
“Bageta is now naturalised which is why we registered him as a non-foreigner. When he signed with us, he was still in the process of making his application which was approved. We have now completed the signing and registration of five foreign players,” says Jetto.
With Bageta naturalized, Maritzburg have been able to fill up their foreign quota with Sylla Mbemba of Guinea, John Aruwah of Ghana and the new signings Swaziland international Tony Tsabedze, Ivory Coast striker Brice Antonin Aka and USA goalkeeper Hunter Gilstrap.
