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Woman told to go to Zimbabwe to get her South African-born child’s visas

Source: GroundUp, 22/02/2019


Since 2008, Melody* has been living and working in South Africa. She
is legally in the country with a Zimbabwe Exemption Permit (ZEP), but
her two children need legal status. The South African authorities say
she has to return to Zimbabwe in order to apply for what is known as
an “accompanying visa” for her children.
She is a domestic worker and it will be very expensive for her. It
may also mean she has to break up her family, at least temporarily.
She might even risk losing her job altogether as she only gets three-
weeks annual leave in December.
“It takes six to eight weeks for the visas to be processed. I cannot
leave my children in Zimbabwe,” she says.
Melody’s seven-year-old was born in South Africa but he accompanied
her to Zimbabwe on her annual leave last year. Her two-year-old was
born in Zimbabwe and she has applied for his birth certificate and
passport at the Zimbabwean Consulate in Cape Town, a costly and
bureaucratic process in itself.
David Hlabane, media manager at the Department of Home Affairs,
confirmed that Melody must apply through the South African Embassy in
Zimbabwe.
On 30 January 2019, Melody collected her ZEP at the Cape Town VFS
(visa services) office, and she was told she needed to go to Zimbabwe
to apply for an accompanying visa for her children. She said there
were many parents at VFS in the same situation.
Tendai Bhiza of PASSOP (People Against Suffering, Oppression and
Poverty) said, “Where will she get the money to go back to Zimbabwe?
Her children will miss school lessons … As long as the children are
in the country they should be allowed to apply for the visas within
South Africa. They have the right to their families.”
* Although Melody’s real name is known to GroundUp and Home Affairs,
she asked us to use a pseudonym to protect the identity of her
children who are at school.


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