There were tears of joy as the High Court in Cape Town set aside a decision by the Department of Home Affairs to refuse a stateless family’s application for citizenship.The Mulowayi family of Kensington‚ Johannesburg‚ finally found relief on Tuesday after a protracted battle with the department, which had refused their application for citizenship on what has now been determined to be wrongful grounds.The Mulowayi family had been in the country since the early 2000s. Florette Mulowayi has lived and worked in SA since 2002‚ when she left her home country as a refugee.Her husband‚ Nsongoni‚ joined her in 2004.Since they have been in SA‚ the couple — originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — has had three children, all born in SA. One of the children subsequently died. The family was left stateless after being denied South African citizenship‚ despite meeting all the requirements.According to Stefanie de Saude-Darbandi‚ a specialist immigration and citizenship law attorne...
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