After 16 years in South Africa a Dutch man’s application to remain in the country has been denied, but he won’t give up the fight.
|||Cape Town - He has been fighting to remain in South Africa - a place he has called home for 16 years - and thought there was light at the end of the tunnel when Public Protector Thuli Madonsela intervened, demanding that Home Affairs get its house in order.
However Thijs van Hillegondsberg’s hopes were dashed last month when Home Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor rejected his application. He has now briefed an advocate to lodge a court application to have the minister’s decision set aside.
Van Hillegondsberg, his wife Patricia Poelmann, and their son Ludo moved from Holland to South Africa in 1996. The couple, who live in Strand, also have two adopted South African children.
Van Hillegondsberg eventually took his battle to the Public Protector, who published a report in April in which she found the department had abused its power in his case. She gave then minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma until the end of May to remedy the situation.
After a flurry of correspondence between Dlamini-Zuma and the Public Protector, it was agreed that Van Hillegondsberg should apply for exemption in terms of the Immigration Act. He lodged the application at the end of July.
In September Dlamini-Zuma was replaced by Pandor, who wrote to Van Hillegondsberg on November 20 to say his application was rejected on the basis that there were no special circumstances.
Saturday Star