South African-born siblings Lawrence and Lorraine Ncube were born from undocumented Zimbabwean parents and are now forced to leave the country with their parents.
Amid all the high octane drama of forced repatriation of undocumented foreign nationals, a sibling duo born in South Africa to illegal migrants is among bearing the brunt deportation.
Teen siblings Lorraine and Lawrence Ncube,18 and 16 respectively, were born from undocumented Zimbabwean parents and are now forced to leave the country with their parents.
For them, being sent to Zimbabwe means leaving behind the only home they have ever known since birth.
Their case highlights a strict legal reality under South African immigration law: children born within the country’s borders to foreign parents do not automatically acquire South African citizenship.
Lorraine is also traveling with her four-month-old daughter.
The family fled their home in Seshego village, outside Polokwane, after a mob targeted and chased them out.
Alongside their mother, the siblings are among thousands of migrants being processed at the border for return to Zimbabwe.
Their father fled separately and was not traveling with them.
Both siblings have expressed immense anxiety about being sent to a country they have never lived in.
Lawrence says he specifically fears isolation and rejection because they do not speak the local languages fluently and are socially viewed as Bapedi.
The family worries that the South African Department of Home Affairs will officially label them as “undesirable persons,” legally banning or restricting them from returning to South Africa in the future.
The predicament faced by the Ncube siblings reflects a broader, ongoing immigration.
According to the Department of Home Affairs, a child only receives South African citizenship if at least one parent is a South African citizen or permanent resident.
While the law dictates that every birth must be registered within 30 days regardless of parental nationality, this registration acts only as a record of birth, not an automatic grant of legal status or nationality.
Individuals born to foreign parents must wait until they turn 18 to apply for citizenship through naturalisation, a process that requires existing legal residence and is highly difficult for undocumented individuals to successfully navigate.
Lorraine is leaving with her four-month-old daughter, whose father is South African.
“He wanted me to leave the child behind, but I couldn’t because it’s very hard to leave my child behind,” she says.
Lawrence fears they will be rejected in Zimbabwe even because of the language they speak.
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