Quinton Mtyala
STRICT enforcement of immigration rules has caused a family to be split between South Africa and Israel, after their youngest daughter was banned from entering the country for five years.
Yaron Schapiro says he and his wife had two children, and left to live in Israel in 2008 to look after his mother who was in her twilight years. While in that country, they had their daughter Noa on January 28, 2010.
Thinking that she was a citizen by virtue of being the child of two South African parents, they never registered her with the South African embassy in Tel Aviv.
In the meantime Noa got an Israeli passport as a dual citizen, and travelled back and forth to South Africa with that document.
“We came back last year, and Noa came in with an Israeli passport. They (immigration) stamped the passport and did not tell me anything,” said Schapiro.
While settling back in South Africa, where he owns a business, Schapiro and his wife Jessica had to find new schools for their children, a house and renew their South African driving licences. It never dawned on them that there could be a wrangle over Noa’s immigration status in South Africa being in dispute.
“I never thought about it, I did so much bureaucracy (getting the children into school and driver’s licences). If I knew I would (have to change Noa’s immigration status, I would have) run to Home Affairs to fix it,” said Schapiro.
He said he had enquired about his daughter’s status with the South African embassy in Tel Aviv and they told him he could “sort it out in South Africa”.
In 2013 the law on birth registrations was amended and the new regulations came into force on March 1, 2014, which states the birth of a South African child has to be registered within a period of 30 days. “We went to Mauritius in December 2015 on holiday and had no concept of any problem whatsoever. We tried to leave the country and they stopped her and said ‘No, she overstayed her visa and is now declared an undesirable’.”
He said the immigration official who made the decision should have been more thoughtful, considering both Noa’s parents are South African, and ordering a five-year-old out of the country did not make any sense.
Schapiro had to send his wife and daughter back to Israel at great expense, while he and his two older daughters, one of who is deaf, had to stay behind in Cape Town.
His 10-year-old daughter can only sign in Hebrew and his wife is the only one who can communicate with her.
She is being taught to sign in English and has had to get a tutor to help home school her because she is unable to attend regular school.
Department of Home Affairs spokesperson Mayihlome Tshwete said Noa’s situation could still be salvaged and the department would investigate the case.