Two women from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola describe women’s rights and realities in their home country compared with their experiences in South Africa.

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Migration was greatly affected by the South African national lockdown. Initially, travelers from ‘high-risk’ countries were banned from entering South Africa and, during parts of the lockdown, all of South Africa’s land borders were completely closed.

For international migrants already living in South Africa, the announcement of the national lockdown brought confusion and fear around their documentation and legal stay in the country during the pandemic.

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‘I cannot ignore the expiry date on my refugee status’

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Around 188,000 people in South Africa hold asylum seeker documentation, and around 173,000 people hold refugee documentation. Asylum seeker documentation is typically valid for anything between one and six months.

Therefore, by September 2020, every single person on asylum seeking documentation in South Africa would hold an expired permit.

‘For me it was scary,’ says Muholeza, who is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). ‘I cannot ignore the expiry date on my refugee status’. Concerned at how the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) would deal with expiring asylum and refugee documentation, Muholeza awaited announcements from the government. ‘I had no idea how they are going to deal with the numbers of people who have expired.’

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A blanket extension

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Three months after the initial lockdown was announced, on 10 June 2020, the South African government announced in Gazetted Amended Directions that all asylum and refugee documentation that had expired since the beginning of lockdown – 15 March 2020 – would be subject to a blanket extension for a period of four months. We welcomed this announcement as it provided clarity for many of our clients and the wider asylum and refugee population of South Africa. This extension was extended another four times (July 2020, September 2020, January 2021 and most recently in March 2021). Currently, refugee and asylum documentation that has expired on or since 15 March 2020 is considered valid until 30 June 2021. 

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Accessing services during the pandemic

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In theory, this blanket extension meant that people holding recently expired asylum or refugee documents in South Africa would be able to continue accessing banking, employment and other services. For many people, this indeed worked. For example, The Banking Association of South Africa confirmed that their banks did not automatically restrict such bank accounts as a result of expired asylum or refugee documentation. Of some help was a specific announcement by the Department of Home Affairs that ‘all the rights, benefits and obligations of asylum seekers and refugees remain the same.’ For many clients, blockages in accessing banking or employment were lifted once the government regulations were printed and presented by the client.

However, for some of our clients, accessing services with seemingly expired documentation was difficult. As the lockdown lifted slightly, some wondered why the Refugee Reception Offices could not reopen, considering other services and offices were beginning to open their doors. ‘[At that time], I could not see a reasonable argument why Refugee Reception Offices were still closed when they opened up public transport, churches and Home Affairs civic services. The same measures that were applied in those areas could have been applied at the Refugee Reception Office too, such as distancing and 50% capacity.’

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Providing remote assistance

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During the pandemic, Scalabrini’s Advocacy Programme provided information to clients remotely, using its Advocacy Hotline. Initially, many clients could not access banking, or were facing problems securing their employment, due to the seemingly expired documentation that they were holding. “Failure to provide an updated Section 22 and Section 24 documents meant an inability to access banking services,” recalls Ellen Chirima, Advocacy Officer at Scalabrini, who worked on the Advocacy Hotline. “People were concerned about losing their jobs due to expired documentation and students were worried that their studies would be disrupted due to the failure to submit up to date documents”.

Governmental directives that confirmed the blanket extension for recently expired asylum and refugee documentation assisted such clients. “The blanket extensions provided relief to an extent,” says Ellen, who estimated that about 70% of clients she encountered were able to access previously blocked services once they had the government directives at hand. “For example, in cases where clients had been stopped from going to work, we would reach out to the employer and explain the validity of the Section 22 or Section 24 documents with the backing of the Directions.”

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Post-covid: A new online system and mixed feelings

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Prior to the pandemic, extending an asylum or refugee document at one of the government’s Refugee Reception Offices was a lengthy task. Muholeza describes it as being a ‘full day commitment.’ In some cases, it required travelling long distances.

A recent report found that 60% of asylum respondents’ adjudications took over five years and – as asylum documentation is issued for anything between one and six months – this would mean multiple trips to Refugee Reception Offices. Eddy (not his real name), also from DRC, has been in the asylum system for 12 years. ‘Before the pandemic, I was having to go to Home Affairs every month. I used to arrive at 3am, and that way I knew I would get inside.’

The most recent DHA directives point to a new system, that moves away from clients going to the Refugee Reception Offices in person. DHA has developed an online system that will allow for the extension of asylum and refugee documentation. (See our infographic here for details on the online system.)

‘For someone like me, who does everything online, I think it will be a relief,’ says Muholeza. ‘But I am still skeptical around it. I can only hope that their service will be efficient.‘ Eddy shares a similar sentiment. ‘For some people, it will be good. But, before covid-19, in Pretoria (Refugee Reception Office), the system was often offline. This online system is fine but we know Home Affairs is the ‘king of offline’ – so I am concerned about this.’

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Post-covid: A new online system and mixed feelings

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The online renewal system is up and running. Documents are issued using a password-protected PDF. Whilst we welcome this move to an online system, we have yet to see how it will function with larger numbers of applicants. Awareness around the use of these online-issued refugee and asylum documents needs to be heightened as services like banks, schools and workplaces become accustomed to using these documents and verifying them using the email addresses on the document itself.

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If you want more information about this, please read our infographic on the online asylum/refugee extension system, and keep updated on our news page or social media. 

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Thousands of clients walk through Scalabrini’s doors every year. As staff, we have different types of interaction with each client. In some cases, different teams get involved to find a solution. Some stories stay with you forever. Appo will remain someone particularly important to us as a team.

This is in memory of Appo, and is dedicated to his family, wherever they might be.

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Falling sick far from home

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Appo* was from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He migrated to South Africa in 2011. He started a life in Cape Town, but the following year in 2012, he suffered a gunshot wound to the head and his chin was damaged. The wound resulted in cancer, affecting his face. He was treated in the hospital and underwent surgery and different therapies. Appo was becoming increasingly sick and, unable to work, he also lost his job. Sadly, the hospital told him there was nothing more that could be done. Recognizing that he was terminally ill, Appo began to want to return to his homeland.

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A final wish to return home

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Despite it being uncomfortable to move, Appo got onto public transport and often came to Scalabrini. When Appo decided that he wished to return home for his final months, he approached the Welfare Team at Scalabrini for assistance. At that point, they could not assist him in returning home; and as Appo had no other means to leave, it seemed that Appo was trapped in South Africa.

He was renting a small room and Scalabrini assisted with transport, and rent, and was helped by his local church. It was increasingly difficult for Appo to move around and to speak, because the illness was affecting his facial abilities. Finally, Welfare was put in touch with a private donor who was willing to fund the flight home.

One would imagine that the return home of a terminally ill person would be a relatively simple, smooth process. But assisting with the return of Appo took the full force of the Welfare and Advocacy teams combined.

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Ensuring a dignified return

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Normally, returning to your country of origin is a complex administrative process; you must hold official documentation to both leave South Africa and enter your country. The Advocacy Programme  worked with the Department of Home Affairs to cancel Appo’s asylum documentation – a process that typically takes months. Simultaneously, the Congolese authorities had to recognize him as a citizen in issuing emergency travel documentation. For each of these processes, many other documents are required. Above this, the Welfare and Advocacy Teams worked to ensure he would be accepted on the flight as he was at stage four cancer. This process required Appo to come in and out of Scalabrini and to various places, which must have been exhausting for him.

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Taking flight

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Finally, after many hurdles and difficulties – which we were all aware fell mainly on Appo’s shoulders – Appo was on the plane to DRC. It was his first time on a plane, and he was alone and not well. Complications led to him being denied entry to the connecting flight in Johannesburg, and the Scalabrini team in Johannesburg were able to assist him in providing shelter and medical assistance before rearranging his boarding on the next flight to DRC.

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Final words

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Finally, Etienne received a call from a Congolese number. It was an official at the airport in Congo, who called to say that Appo was at the airport but no one was there to collect him. We believe that his family, with whom we had been in touch, had not been able to afford the journeys to the airport from the village and had perhaps suffered a break-down in communication as Appo was not on two previous flights that he was meant to be on.

The church network was alerted and a local priest from Lubumbashi was able to collect and host Appo. We asked to speak to him, but the journey seemed to have exhausted him as the priest told us that Appo was not able to speak anymore. Such a journey is exhausting for a person in good health, let alone someone in Appo’s state. Appo stayed at the church in Lubumbashi, where he was looked after by the church staff as best they could.

Weeks later, we received news that Appo had passed away. It brought us sadness and, to some degree, relief – because Appo was in pain and all he wanted to do was go home. Whilst he was not with his family, he at least passed away in his hometown of Lubumbashi, on his own soil, and was not alone.

We never got to speak again to his family, but we often think of them and wish them the best, as well as everyone who helped Appo along his way – from airport officials to priests. In memory of Appo, who fought until the end.

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*Names have been changed to protect his identity.

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