I’m officially a South African: joy of Limpopo man who’s battled to get an ID for 10 years

26 April 2023

For years his life was in limbo. He struggled to get a job, couldn’t get a driver’s licence and he wasn’t able to get married – all because he wasn’t recognised as a South African citizen. 

Tebogo Khoza (26) was born in South Africa but he had nothing to prove it. For almost a decade he’s battled to show he is who he says he is – and finally he has the precious piece of paper that will allow him to get on with his life.

The North Gauteng high court in Pretoria recently ruled the department of home affairs should register him as a South African and issue him with an identity document. 

The first step was giving him a birth certificate and when he received it he could hardly believe his eyes.

“I was very happy,” he tells YOU. 

“On the night of the court verdict I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking, ‘When I get my ID, I’m going to get a driver’s licence and a passport’.” - Tebogo Khoza

According to the births and deaths registration act of 1992, all children born in South Africa must be registered within 30 days. 

Tebogo’s parents didn’t register him because they were undocumented immigrants – so to all intents and purposes, their son didn’t exist. 

“I grew up in a rural area. At times I wanted to go live in town so I could find work there or work in a mine, but I couldn’t because I had no documents,” he recalls.

When he was six years old his mother passed away and the Thabang Children’s Project later took him in. 

Cecil White, who used to work at the child and youth centre in Thabazimbi, Limpopo, accompanied Tebogo to their local home affairs office to apply for his birth certificate and ID when the boy was 16. They had no idea just how long it would take to get those life-changing documents.

Yet Cecil (60) resolved to see it through. He even sought legal counsel from Lawyers for Human Rights to help the young man he regarded as his own son.

“I thought if there was one last battle I would fight, it would be this,” Cecil says.

His hard work was rewarded when the high court ruled in their favour. “God answered my prayers,” Tebogo says.

Tebogo’s parents fled political unrest in Eswatini and entered SA illegally before he was born. 

He can’t remember much of his early childhood but recalls being raised by his mom in an informal settlement near Thabazimbi, after his parents split up. He didn’t have a relationship with his father.

When his mother passed away after an illness, his maternal grandmother, Lucy Ndlovu, tracked him down to take care of him. But they ended up depending on the welfare of others because she wasn’t a South African citizen and couldn’t access any social assistance from the government.

Lucy collected food parcels from the Thabang Children’s Project, a non-governmental organisation that helps vulnerable children in the community by providing them with meals, school stationery and casual clothes, among other things.

The NGO also has a centre that houses abandoned kids and children in need and in December 2006 Lucy made the tough decision to hand her grandson over to carers so they could raise him. 

For Tebogo, it was a blessing. “When I got there, I saw other kids playing. I could play, eat and just be like a child. That’s why I loved it there,” he says. 

He was nine when he arrived at the centre, Cecil recalls. “He had no birth certificate, no paperwork, he hadn’t received any schooling.”

However, he saw potential in the young boy and helped put him through school. Cecil admits it was a tough task because schools were reluctant to accept him without documentation and he basically had to go on his knees and beg for Tebogo to be enrolled. 

'Our country has a very good constitution and a good children’s act. It states that every child has the right to an education.' - Cecil White

“Even if a child doesn’t have a birth certificate, according to the childcare act, a child has a right to care, safety and education. We fought on those grounds and we won.” 

Living without documentation became even more challenging as Tebogo grew older so he and Cecil turned to the department of home affairs for help.

Officials said they couldn’t register him because he didn’t have any documents to verify his birth and told him to go to Eswatini to have his birth registered there and get a passport. 

Cecil accompanied him but the pair faced another hurdle at the border when Eswatini officials refused them entry, despite the fact they had documentation from home affairs detailing the reason for their visit.

“I was very confused because both South Africa and Eswatini refused me citizenship. Like, where am I from? I was shocked at how people treated me,” Tebogo says. 

“They treated me like I’m a foreigner and like I’m nothing. I started thinking, ‘Why doesn’t God open a door for me?’”

Cecil wasn’t going to give up without a fight. He contacted the department of home affairs several times to find a solution and after being sent from pillar to post he eventually turned to Lawyers for Human Rights. 

Lawyer Thandeka Chauke was part of the team who acted on Tebogo’s behalf and submitted applications to the home affairs office in Lephalale, Limpopo, and to the home affairs minister to have his birth registered. 

When there was no response, they turned to the high court as a last resort, she says.

“Our motion was granted by the court and the department of home affairs had 30 days to comply with the court order. The 30 days expired on 30 March and on that date the department indicated they had generated an ID number for him and issued his birth certificate.

“He’s now waiting on his smartcard ID. He was told they couldn’t issue it on the same day because the systems were down and they had to send it to another home affairs office.” 

The card should be ready in a couple of weeks and Tebogo is looking forward to getting on with his life. He’s working as an animal-keeper on a game farm in Limpopo – a job Cecil helped him get as he waited for his documentation. Cecil has been with him on every step of his journey and Tebogo regards him as a father figure. 

“He’s the one who helped me and taught me about life,” he says. “He taught me how to be a man.” 

Tebogo and his partner, Maria Mlthali (26), have a five-year-old son, Junior. When Maria was pregnant, he proposed but he couldn’t plan a wedding because he didn’t have the required paperwork that would allow him to marry. 

Now he plans to do exactly that. “It’s like I have millions in my hands,” he says.

www.samigration.com

Australia unveils direct pathway to citizenship for New Zealanders

26 April 2023 | Reuters

SYDNEY, April 22 (Reuters) - Australia announced on Saturday a direct pathway to citizenship for New Zealanders living in the country, reversing controversial visa rules a day before a visit by New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.

Hipkins, set to visit Queensland state's capital Brisbane on Sunday, hailed the move as "the biggest improvement in the rights of New Zealanders living in Australia in a generation".

The changes, effective from July, meant New Zealand citizens living in Australia for four years or more could apply for citizenship without having to become permanent residents first, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement.

"We know that many New Zealanders are here on a Special Category Visa while raising families, working and building their lives in Australia. So I am proud to offer the benefits that citizenship provides," Albanese added.

New Zealand has long campaigned for changes since visa rules were altered in 2001, making it tougher for Kiwis in Australia to get citizenship.

The reform would bring New Zealanders' rights more into line with those of Australian expats living in New Zealand, Australia's Labor government said.

"Kiwis taking up Australian citizenship will still retain their New Zealand citizenship. These dual citizens are not lost to New Zealand – but draw us closer together," Hipkins said in a statement.

The changes also meant children born in Australia since July to an Australia-based New Zealand parent would be automatically entitled to Australian citizenship, he said.

"This will make critical services available to them," he said, adding the changes delivered on an Albanese promise that no New Zealander be left "permanently temporary" in Australia.

Around 670,000 New Zealand citizens live in Australia, while there are around 70,000 Australians in New Zealand, according to Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Australia's Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil ruled out the changes being extended to other migrant groups, saying it was a "special arrangement with New Zealand".

The reform was about ensuring the "strong friendship we have is reflected properly in law", she told ABC television.

www.samigration.com

Home Affairs rejects almost 9 000 ‘refugees’ in 12 months

24 Apr 2023 | Cape Argus

Cape Town - The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) processed 10 643 newcomer asylum applications in five refugee reception centres during the 2022/23 financial year, and rejected 8 948 of them, Minister Aaron Motsoaledi revealed in Parliament.

Although lobby groups are pushing against what they deem to be anti-foreigner sentiment from the DHA, a city activist grouping says Motsoaledi’s figures were slightly down from last year.

The term “refugees” refers to people who have fled wars or persecution, while “asylum seekers” describes people who claim to be refugees but whose claim has not been reviewed.

DA MP Adrian Roos asked Motsoaledi for the number of newcomer asylum applications processed for each refugee reception centre in the previous financial year, and how many were rejected as “unfounded”, “manifestly unfounded”, and those granted.

Roos also sought the number of asylum applications processed through the backlog project funded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; the number granted refugee status; and the number of final rejections, and whether any of the final rejections were appealed through a judicial appeal at the high court.

Motsoaledi said the DHA received 10 643 newcomers nationally in the 2022 calendar year, with the city-based refugee offices receiving 471 newcomers, which is the least compared with the centres in Durban, Musina, Gqeberha and the Pretoria-based Desmond Tutu Centre.

He said that out of the 10 643 newcomers’ applications, only 870 were granted asylum status.

The centres rejected 11 applications as “abusive”, 1 023 as “fraudulent”, 3 598 as “manifestly unfounded”, and 4 316 as “unfounded”.

Motsoaledi said 6 552 application files were processed, reviewed and profiled.

He said 876 applicants received final rejection and 3 705 appeals that were lodged were cancelled by asylum applicants.

Motsoaledi said there were only two final rejections appealed through judicial reviews at the high courts.

Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town advocacy head and legal advisor, James Chapman, said: “The figures reflecting an approximate granting rate of refugee status at first instance of 9% is very low (91% rejection rate), and we would question and argue this as a substantial proportion of the asylum applicants who were rejected ... incorrectly and unlawfully rejected by Refugee Status Determination Offices, and that these asylum seekers did, in fact and in law, have genuine refugee claims and ought to have been granted refugee status instead of being rejected.”

www.samigration.com

Motsoaledi's decision on Zimbabwean Exemption Permit does not take rights away, court hears

13 Apr 2023 | News24

• The Helen Suzman Foundation has gone to court to challenge Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi's decision to terminate the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit.
• The permit allows around 178 000 Zimbabwean nationals to live and work in South Africa.
• The court heard on Wednesday that Motsoaledi's decision did not take the rights away from permit holders but conferred them. 

Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi's decision not to create a further exemption programme for around 178 000 Zimbabwean nationals living in South Africa does not take away their rights - it confers them.

This was one of the arguments by Motsoaledi and the Department of Home Affairs' director-general in a court challenge by the Helen Suzman Foundation which is being heard in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

During the economic and political strife in Zimbabwean in 2008 and 2009, many of the country's nationals fled to South Africa. 

The South African government at the time decided to create a blanket exemption so Zimbabweans could get permits to live and work in the country legally. 

The permits were effectively extended by creating another permit over the years and have since become known as the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP). 

In December 2021, Motsoaledi announced the termination of the ZEP, effectively announcing no further exemption would be created for holders and their children. 

This decision was challenged by the foundation, which argued in court Motsoaledi's decision was procedurally unfair and irrational.

It said he did not consider the impact this would have on ZEP holders, and it infringed on their rights.

On Wednesday, advocate Ismail Jamie SC, for the minister and director-general, dismissed the issues raised by the foundation and premised the respondents' arguments around the fact the decision made was a policy decision. 

Jamie argued such a policy decision was not up for judicial scrutiny and only the policy's implementation could be challenged in a court of law. 

In terms of the implementation, he said this was ongoing as ZEP holders were given until June 2023 to regularise their stay in South Africa by applying for other visas or asking to be exempt from the expiration of the ZEP. 

Jamie added giving a blanket exemption to Zimbabwean nationals entering South Africa in the 2000s was a policy decision based on the issues in the neighbouring country at the time.

Similarly, the decision to not create a further exemption was also based on policy, which he said was based on rational reasons that included budgetary constraints, improvements in conditions in Zimbabwe, and a backlog in the asylum system. 

The decision was also placed under the spotlight on whether Motsoaledi terminated the ZEP or if it expired because of the effluxion of time.

It was argued the minister did not decide to terminate the ZEP but extended its validity to help holders get their affairs in order. 

Motsoaledi said this decision did not remove the rights of ZEP holders but rather conferred them.

This argument also centred around whether the court challenge was premature as the extension granted has yet to expire. 

Jamie conceded Motsoaledi did not decide to create another exemption and said this was not a legal decision but a policy one. 

He reiterated there was no legal obligation to create the blanket exemption in the first place, nor the exemptions that followed, and ultimately ended with the ZEP, which was set to expire at the end of 2021. 

The foundation took the matter to court, seeking a declaration of invalidity and that Motsoaledi's decision be reviewed and set aside.

www.samigration.com

Common South Africa Visa Mistakes to Avoid

12 Apr 2023 | Migrate With Q

Introduction:

The purpose of this article is to provide helpful information and tips to individuals who are planning to travel or live in South Africa and need to obtain a visa. Specifically, the article will focus on common visa mistakes that travellers make when applying for a visa to South Africa. There are many South Africa Visa types, so you need to know what you are doing.

By highlighting these common errors, the articles aim to help readers avoid these pitfalls and ensure a smooth and hassle-free visa application process. In addition to explaining the common mistakes that travellers make, the articles will also discuss the potential consequences of making these mistakes, such as visa denials, travel disruptions and financial loss.

The articles will provide practical tips and advice on how to avoid these errors, such as researching the visa requirements and gathering all necessary documentation, double-checking all information provided on the application, seeking professional advice if unsure, and applying well in advance.

The importance of avoiding visa pitfalls

Avoiding visa errors is extremely important, as errors in the visa application process can have significant consequences on travel plans and can even result in denied entry to South Africa. Some of the potential consequences of visa errors include:

1. Visa denial: If the visa application is not completed correctly or required documentation is not provided the visa may be denied, preventing the traveller from entering the country.
   
   
2. Travel disruption: Visa errors can cause delays and disruptions to travel plans, potentially resulting in missed flights, cancelled accommodations, and other travel-related expenses.

1. Financial Loss: In addition to travel-related expenses, visa errors can also result in loss of visa fees, which can be substantial amounts for some visas.
   
   
2. Legal issues: Providing false information on an application or attempting to enter South Africa without the proper documentation can result in legal issues including deportation and being declared undesirable.

Taking time to research visa eligibility, and gather the necessary documentation can prevent visa errors.

Visa Errors frequently made by South African Visa Applicants

Lack of proper documentation
One of the most frequent visa errors that travellers make is a lack of proper documentation. Depending on the purpose of the visit, different types of documentation may be required, such as passports, travel itineraries, medical and radiology reports and bank records. Failure to provide the correct documentation can result in a visa denial or delays.
People should carefully research the visa requirements for South Africa and ensure that they have all the necessary documentation well in advance for their trip, except for time-sensitive documents. It is also important to double-check that all the information provided on the application form and supporting documentation is accurate and up-to-date, as errors or omissions can lead to visa rejection.

Examples of missing or incomplete documents for South Africa

When applying for a South Africa visa, there are a number of documents that may be required depending on the purpose of the visit. Here are some examples of missing or incomplete documents that can result in visa application rejection or delay:

1. Passport: One of the important documents required for a South African visa is a valid passport. If a traveller’s passport is damaged, expired, or does not have sufficient blank pages, their visa application may be rejected.
   
   
2. Proof of accommodation: Travelers to South Africa are expected to provide proof of accommodation for the duration of their stay, such as hotel bookings or a letter of invitation from a host. If a traveller does not provide adequate proof of accommodation, their visa application may be rejected.
   
   
3. Proof of financial means: South Africa requires travellers to demonstrate that they have sufficient funds to support their stay, such as bank statements. If a traveller does not provide adequate proof of financial means, their application may be rejected.
   
   
4. Medical records: Depending on the purpose of the visit, travellers to South Africa may require to provide medical and radiology reports or proof of vaccinations. Not submitting either of these could lead to your visa being rejected.
   
   
5. Letter of invitation: If a traveller is visiting South Africa for business or staying with a host, they be required to provide a letter from their host. If a traveller does not provide a valid letter of invitation, their visa application may be rejected.

It is important for travellers to carefully review the South African visa requirements and ensure that they have all the necessary documentation well in advance of their trip.

Providing false information

Providing false information on a visa application can have serious consequences, both legally and for future travel. If an applicant provides false information, it is considered a form of fraud and can result in visa denial or revocation, as well as potential legal action with the Department of Home Affairs.

The severity of the false information provided, an individual may be denied entry to South Africa, or even face criminal charges. False information can include anything from providing fake travel itineraries or employment details, to lying about criminal records or health conditions.

Examples of providing false information:

Providing false information on a South African visa application can have serious consequences, including visa denial or revocation, as well as potential legal action. Here are some examples of common false information that applicants may provide on a South Africa visa application:

1. Employment information: Providing false information about employment, such as fake company names or inflated salary, in order to meet financial requirements for the visa.
   
   
2. Travel history: Lying about past travel history, such as failing to disclose previous countries in which you have stayed for more than 12 months or more since the age of 18.
   
   
3. Criminal record: Failing to disclose a criminal record or providing false information about past criminal activity.
   
   
4. Health condition: Lying about a health condition or failing to disclose a contagious disease. which can have public health implications.
   
   
5. Relationship status: Falsely claiming to be in a relationship with a South Africa citizen or permanent resident in order to obtain a visa.

Applying for the wrong type of visa

Applying for the wrong type of visa is a frequent error for foreign nationals when wanting to travel or live in South Africa. It is important to apply for the correct type of visa to ensure that the purpose of the visit or stay is legally allowed and to avoid visa rejection or delay.

For example, a traveller may apply for a tourist visa when their intended purpose is for business, study or work. Each type of visa has its own specific requirements and supporting documentation. Applying for the wrong visa will result in rejection or a delay in obtaining the correct visa, which can impact travel plans and cause unnecessary stress.

Another error is failing to apply for a visa in advance of the trip. Some travellers may assume that they can obtain a visa on arrival, but this is not always the case. It is important to check the visa requirements and application process for South Africa in advance of the trip to ensure sufficient time for processing and potential additional requirements.

To avoid applying for the wrong type of visa, it is recommended that travellers carefully review the South African visa requirements and select the appropriate visa based on the purpose of their visit. It is also recommended to seek professional advice if there are any doubts or questions about the visa application process.

How to avoid errors with your South Africa Visa

To avoid immigration errors, it is important to carefully follow the visa process and eligibility criteria. Here are some tips to help you avoid these errors:

1. Research visa requirements: Before applying for a visa, it is important to research the specific eligibility criteria for the destination. This includes determining the type of visa needed, the necessary supporting documents, and the application process and timeline.
   
   
2. Gather all necessary documentation: Make sure you have all the documentation ready and organized before submitting your visa documents. This can include items such as a valid passport, proof of accommodation, return tickets, and proof of financial support.

1. Double-check all information provided: Before submitting your application, it is important to double-check all information provided for accuracy and completeness. Even small errors can lead to visa denial, so take the time to review all information carefully.
   
   
2. Seek professional advice If unsure: If you have any doubts or questions about the visa application process, it’s best to seek professional advice. This can include consulting with a visa specialist or immigration lawyer to ensure that you have a thorough understanding of the process.
   
   
3. Apply well in advance of travel: it is important to apply for a visa well in advance of your planned travel date to allow sufficient time for processing and any additional documents that may be necessary. Applying early can also help to avoid last-minute stress and potential travel disruptions.

www,samigration.com