South Africa-based 23-year-old Fine Arts student Musa Nyathi faces an uncertain future as he is among tens of thousands of Zimbabweans who will be forced to leave the country by June next year after the expiry of their special permits.
Nyathi, who has lived in South Africa for 14 years since the age of nine, has been languishing at home for the last ten months.
2021 was meant to be the last year of his studies at the Tshwane University of Technology but failing one of his modules meant he would have to register in 2022 to complete his degree. He told SABC News:
I had a problem when I applied for my visa application late last year. I was told that I would have a certain grace period but when I went to apply they told me that the grace period is for refugees and people under that category.
Nyathi said his attempt to explain to the Department of Home Affairs the circumstances relating to the week’s delay in submitting his visa application was ignored. He said:
I’m not sure what kind of reasons they were looking for because there were actually unforeseen circumstances.
I was expecting to complete my course last year and by the end of the year move back home but due to the COVID-19 regulations and the like, we ended up having our exams later on the latest in early December.
Since 2008, Nyathi’s mother has done everything possible to ensure that the family is on the right side of the law with regard to its immigration status.
The Department of Home Affairs said it was still investigating why eight months after Nyathi appealed its decision to reject his visa application, he is still waiting for a response despite a number of follow-up inquiries. Said Nyathi:
I honestly just want to complete my course because I only had a single module left that I was unable to complete last year but if I am free to do so I may freely leave the country.
According to the Helen Suzman Foundation, however, Nyathi’s situation is happening all too often as the expiry of the ZEP in June next year approaches.
The Foundation, and other immigration stakeholders, believe South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs lacks the capacity to deal fairly with Zimbabweans seeking to regularise their stay in the country and therefore must be made to reconsider its decision by the courts.