News / Regional
Deported 96-year-old admitted at Plumtree hospital
19 Aug 2013 at 10:33hrs | Views
NINETY-SIX-YEAR-OLD Alfred Khumalo, who was deported from Botswana last week, is still admitted at Plumtree Hospital.
Sources at the hospital yesterday told Southern Eye that no arrangement had been made to take Khumalo back to Botswana, following reports last week that an ambulance had been dispatched to fetch him.
Khumalo was deported last Monday and arrived at Plumtree Hopsital on Tuesday, where he is still admitted and being treated after suffering a stroke.
The nonagenarian was forcibly removed from Selebi-Phikwe Government Hospital before he was unceremoniously sent back to Zimbabwe after living in Botswana for the past 70 years.
"He is there in the ward," an official at Plumtree Hospital said.
"We have not heard of any arrangement to take him back to Botswana and we don't know if they have been made at all."
Khumalo's deportation was discussed in Botswana's Parliament, with Labour and Home Affairs minister Edwin Batshu saying he would investigate.
It was revealed that despite claims that Khumalo had been deported because he was not a Motswana, the country's Constitution states that anyone who has been resident in that country automatically became a Motswana when the country attained its independence in 1966.
Furthermore, Khumalo reportedly renounced his Zimbabwean citizenship in 2004 and was in the process of formalising his stay in Botswana.
It was revealed that in his efforts to acquire Botswana citizenship, Khumalo had the assistance of a chief Kgosi Sebina, who signed an affidavit on his behalf.
However, immigration officials delayed the processing of the application, before eventually deporting him.
The matter has since been taken up by Ditshwanelo, a human rights organisation seeking Khumalo's return.
Sources at the hospital yesterday told Southern Eye that no arrangement had been made to take Khumalo back to Botswana, following reports last week that an ambulance had been dispatched to fetch him.
Khumalo was deported last Monday and arrived at Plumtree Hopsital on Tuesday, where he is still admitted and being treated after suffering a stroke.
The nonagenarian was forcibly removed from Selebi-Phikwe Government Hospital before he was unceremoniously sent back to Zimbabwe after living in Botswana for the past 70 years.
"He is there in the ward," an official at Plumtree Hospital said.
"We have not heard of any arrangement to take him back to Botswana and we don't know if they have been made at all."
It was revealed that despite claims that Khumalo had been deported because he was not a Motswana, the country's Constitution states that anyone who has been resident in that country automatically became a Motswana when the country attained its independence in 1966.
Furthermore, Khumalo reportedly renounced his Zimbabwean citizenship in 2004 and was in the process of formalising his stay in Botswana.
It was revealed that in his efforts to acquire Botswana citizenship, Khumalo had the assistance of a chief Kgosi Sebina, who signed an affidavit on his behalf.
However, immigration officials delayed the processing of the application, before eventually deporting him.
The matter has since been taken up by Ditshwanelo, a human rights organisation seeking Khumalo's return.
Source - southerneye
