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'Stateless' grandmother in pension predicament

Source: The Namibian, 23/03/2016


'Stateless' grandmother in pension predicament
2016-03-15 – The Namibian
ALOYSIA Basson cannot precisely recall how young she was when she
moved to Namibia with her parents from South Africa, but since she was
baptised at Gabis in 1947, she always believed herself to be Namibian.
It was only when she was forced to retire from her work as a domestic
help at age 60 and attempted to apply for a state pension that she was
informed that she would first have to apply for citizenship to be
eligible.

"I've never known another home, but now I have to 'zula' to survive
because I have no income," she tells The Namibian as we sit in the
one-bedroom home she rents out in Otjomuise 2 in Windhoek, while she
occupies a shack on the property.

The 67-year-old mother of seven says were it not for the tenant
renting her home, she would have been much worse off.

"She takes such good care of me. If it wasn't for her running around
from one office to the other, we wouldn't have gotten this far, but
we're tired of being sent around."

The tenant, Sara Hoakhaos, said "it's heartbreaking to see her
struggling like this every day, and we've really tried. We even wrote
to the President, but it seems we must just accept it".

Basson says she was told to renounce her South African citizenship,
and promptly went to the South African High Commission to get the
process started. But a lack of funds and the complex procedures hamper
her from getting her affairs in order once and for all.

Her 32 year-old daughter, Dorothy, says she too feels helpless as she
does not know how to help her mother's situation. "It makes me very
sad to see the circumstances my mother lives in.

If she could receive a pension, it would make a huge difference
because she's really struggling. When it rains, the roof leaks, and
having bare earth as a floor can't be good for her health".

Basson related that she is able to survive only through the kindness
of others, such as some vegetable vendors near her home in Otjomuise
who regularly give her some vegetables to supplement her diet.

"I've almost given up, I don't know what to do now. I applied for my
ID said seven years ago, but it's just been a back-and-forth story."

"I am a proud Namibian, and I beg my President to help me get my pension."

According to Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration spokesperson
Sacky Kadhikwa, Basson only needs to "renounce her South African
citizenship at the local High Commission and present herself at the
Home Affairs offices in town, with her documents and a sworn affidavit
by a depondent or institution such as a church and then from there,
her application will be sent to the board to be scrutinised".


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