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Shame on you Home Affairs

Source: Cape Argus, 30/05/2018


To Home Affairs, we say shame on you for causing a young boy such
emotional and psychological anguish.All 13-year-old George Maskini
wanted was to go and play football after he was chosen to represent his
school at an event in Thailand last November.
The South African-born Sunnyside Primary pupil is a minor, and his mom
needed to apply for travel documentation for him.
That’s where the talented youngster first hit a wall. The Department of
Home Affairs said he needed a passport. But his application was
scuppered by the fact his parents were DRC nationals.
Determined to help realise his dream of playing overseas, the boy’s
mother, Bampende, appealed to the department. Eventually, Home Affairs
Deputy Minister Fatima Chohan stepped in, and his passport was fast-
tracked.
On the day he was to depart he was stopped at the boarding gate because
he needed a visa.
In December, the manager of SimSport Eagles Football Club offered him
another opportunity to ¬travel overseas. George’s dreams were dashed
again when officials declared lost and/or stolen the passport Chohan
had given him.
The teen was subjected to a traumatic experience by a government
department whose purpose is to serve South Africans. Home Affairs’
failure to assist this young boy is despicable. It speaks to the
unbelievably poor service some public servants deliver.
Maskini’s story touched the hearts of Cape Argus readers and one
lawyer, Romeo Tsusi, stepped in, offering to sue Home Affairs on the
boy’s behalf, pro bono.
The Cape Argus’s reporting on the story also caught the attention of
MPs, who summoned George’s mother to appear before the Home Affairs
portfolio committee, who shook their heads in dismay on Tuesday,
listening to the harrowing tale.
We admire the efforts of the young lawyer. This is what President Cyril
Ramaphosa meant by “Thuma mina. Send me” - his rallying call during his
first State of the Nation Address earlier this year.
To Home Affairs, we say shame on you for causing a young boy such
emotional and psychological anguish. How many other people are
¬subjected to treatment like this?
The portfolio committee demanded an explanation of how Home Affairs
scuppered this young boy’s dreams, and so do we.


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