A woman stripped of her birthright

Mary Chombo was born in SA to a South African-born mother and a Malawian father. But as her birth was never registered in this country and she left for Malawi with her parents when she was little, she is now persona non grata in SA.

She moved back here with her four children after her husband died, but her efforts to be recognised as South African have fallen on deaf ears.

“Home Affairs simply say they do not assist Malawians,” she told Pretoria News. Her four children have asylum seeker permits, in spite of being citizens by descent.
Chombo, 50, said although she now lived in her parental home in Katlehong, which proved that she has South African ties, she did not have a birth certificate and could not obtain any other documentation as a result.

She told the Pretoria News that she also had no papers which tied her to Malawi.

“I am South African. I was born here, but I have nothing to prove it as my birth was not registered. For the past 50 years I have had no papers. This means in turn that my children have no papers.

“I cannot work and I have to rely on odd jobs to feed my children. I have no State to protect me. I belong here in South Africa. I want my children to live here. But I need citizenship to enjoy those rights.”Chombo said she had a lot of documentation proving that she originated from SA before leaving with her parents for Malawi.

She can prove her parents have a house in Soweto and she still has her primary school certificate.

“Many people here also remember me from that time. But the authorities refuse to help me. They just say I am from Malawi and they won’t assist me.”

Lawyers for Human Rights is trying to assist Chombo.

• This article first appeared in Pretoria News on 22 March 2012