Casseldale women faces deportation
Springs Home Affairs has allegedly threatened to deport Wendy van Rensburg (59) back to her country of birth, Zimbabwe.
Although there is no written proof of the allegations, Wendy claims a consultant verbally informed her that it might happen.
She has never obtained any South African identification documents since she immigrated to SA in 1984.
Being born in Zimbabwe on February 11, 1956, she lived there until she met and married the South African-born Willem van Rensburg in 1973.
When the van Rensburgs immigrated to SA in 1984, Wendy entered the country on her British passport.
However, the passport expired in 1992 and Wendy thought she was a SA citizen after being in the country for eight years.
She never renewed the passport.
Wendy claims it was not necessary for her to apply for any documentation at the time they immigrated, because she was married to a SAÂ citizen.
The Casseldale resident is no longer so sure about her future.
Her daughter Lara van Rensburg realised her mother urgently needed a permanent residency permit as she has no documentation to prove her citizenship in SA.
“Out of pure desperation, I recently found her Zimbabwean birth certificate and visited the Springs Home Affairs office to apply for a permit,” she says.
She claims she was told to get a letter of goodwill from an inspectorate office in Springs before applying online at the Visa Facilitation Services (VFS) global website for permanent residency for her mother.
She applied online and received confirmation of the application but still needed the letter of goodwill before they could continue with the application.
Lara claims she couldn’t find an inspectorate office in Springs.
Desperate, she returned to the Springs Home Affairs office and asked for their assistance.
Lara was once again informed that she needs to go to VFS as Home Affairs cannot assist her with the application.
“I have no idea where to obtain this letter,” she says.
Wendy is terrified that she will be sent back to Zimbabwe as she has no family there.
“I know that I have left my application far too long, but I hope that I will soon be able to hold a SA ID book in my hand,” says Wendy.
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