German citizen allowed to remain in SA despite `fake visa permit`

Source: Cape Times, 05/01/2016

Twarz-Kirchhoff said Home Affairs issued a permit for the whole family
to stay in country
PRETORIA: The high court in Pretoria came to the rescue of a desperate
mother-of-three, who had been separated from her children for nearly
the entire month of December, after Home Affairs banned her from
entering the country – claiming her permit to remain here was
fraudulent.


German citizen Yvonne Twarz-Kirchhoff, with the aid of her lawyer,
turned to the court on New Year`s Eve as she is desperate to enter
South Africa to be reunited with her family.


She said her husband Jens received a "critical skills work permit" as
he was commissioned from Dresden in Germany, where they lived, to
urgently work on Eskom`s Kusile Power Station project as a piping
supervisor.


Eskom desperately needed this power station to be commissioned as soon
as possible to contribute to the shortages experienced on the national
electricity grid.


Twarz-Kirchhoff said her husband accepted the work on condition that
she and their children were allowed to accompany him to South Africa
for the next three years.


They came to South Africa in March last year and lived on a
smallholding outside Pretoria. Twarz-Kirchhoff said she had to leave
for Germany on December 4 to attend to urgent business. When she
returned three days later, she was refused re-entry by an immigration
officer.


She was handed back to Swiss Air by Home Affairs officials and told to
go home. No reasons were given.


Meanwhile, it emerged that Home Affairs claimed that she had been in
the country illegally for several months. She was declared "an
undesirable person".


But Twarz-Kirchhoff said in a statement that Home Affairs issued a
permit for the whole family to stay in South Africa for the next few
years. This was accepted together with her husband`s work permit.


She received a visitor`s permit, with the words "to accompany her
husband on his valid critical skills permit" written on the
permit.


As her children remained at their Pretoria home and she was forced to
stay in Dresden, her husband could not return to work as he had to
take care of the children.


The court was told that her husband was under immense pressure as he
played a vital role in the finalisation of the first power unit.


Eskom is so desperate to have the project finalised that it issued a
letter to court, stating the urgency of her husband returning to
site.


Home Affairs official Mathews Nkuna, however, said Twarz-Kirchhoff`s
permit was "a fake".


According to him, any visa permit linked to another`s permit should
correspond with the main holder`s permit.


Nkuna said in this case it was stated that the wife and children`s
permits expired on March 19, 2018, while the husband`s permit expires
on December 31, 2018.


"This document is fake and was not issued by Home Affairs," Nkuna
said.


He said the wife was in the country on a visitor`s permit, which had
expired months ago. Nkuna said the fact that she had been able to stay
in the country for all this time, without being detected, had a
negative effect on South Africa`s ability to manage immigration
effectively.


Judge Neil Tuchten ordered Home Affairs to allow TwarzKirchhoff back
into the country for now until the dispute is resolved.