Gay couple challenge prohibited immigrant status
An urgent application against the government's decision to declare a married gay couple as prohibited immigrants is to be heard in the High Court in Windhoek this morning.
Matsobane Daniel Digashu and Johann Potgieter want the court to interdict the government and its immigration authorities from treating them as prohibited immigrants.
Cited as the third applicant in the matter is Tjoelantle Lucas Digashu, a minor said to be the son of the applicants.
They also want the government and its immigration authorities to recognise their civil marriage concluded on 4 August 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The court is requested to declare that the government must recognise that Digashu is the spouse of Potgieter as envisaged in the provisions of the Immigration Control Act of Namibia.
The respondents are: the Namibian government, the minister of home affairs and immigration, the chief of immigration, the acting chairperson of the Immigration Board, the Immigration Selection Board, the Immigration Tribunal, the ombudsman and the attorney-general.
Digashu, a specialist in information and communication technology and Potgieter, an information technology businessman, want the court to declare that they are the joint primary caregivers of Tjoelantle.
The court is also asked to declare that the couple may remove the child from South Africa and relocate to Namibia.
The applicants want the court to declare that Tjoelantle is their dependent child and that they are domiciled in Namibia.
They argue that if the court finds that the word “spouse” as used in the provisions of the Immigration Act cannot be interpreted to mean that Digashu and Potgieter are spouses, then it must declare section 2(1) (c) of the Immigration Control Act unconstitutional by rectifying it to read into the section the words “including persons lawfully married in another country”.
The applicants are asking the court to review and set aside the immigration authorities' decision of 26 September 2017 which refused to grant Digashu an employment permit in terms of section 7 of the Immigration Control Act.
They are also asking the court to order the respondents to pay the costs of the application.
FRED GOEIEMAN
Matsobane Daniel Digashu and Johann Potgieter want the court to interdict the government and its immigration authorities from treating them as prohibited immigrants.
Cited as the third applicant in the matter is Tjoelantle Lucas Digashu, a minor said to be the son of the applicants.
They also want the government and its immigration authorities to recognise their civil marriage concluded on 4 August 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The court is requested to declare that the government must recognise that Digashu is the spouse of Potgieter as envisaged in the provisions of the Immigration Control Act of Namibia.
The respondents are: the Namibian government, the minister of home affairs and immigration, the chief of immigration, the acting chairperson of the Immigration Board, the Immigration Selection Board, the Immigration Tribunal, the ombudsman and the attorney-general.
Digashu, a specialist in information and communication technology and Potgieter, an information technology businessman, want the court to declare that they are the joint primary caregivers of Tjoelantle.
The court is also asked to declare that the couple may remove the child from South Africa and relocate to Namibia.
The applicants want the court to declare that Tjoelantle is their dependent child and that they are domiciled in Namibia.
They argue that if the court finds that the word “spouse” as used in the provisions of the Immigration Act cannot be interpreted to mean that Digashu and Potgieter are spouses, then it must declare section 2(1) (c) of the Immigration Control Act unconstitutional by rectifying it to read into the section the words “including persons lawfully married in another country”.
The applicants are asking the court to review and set aside the immigration authorities' decision of 26 September 2017 which refused to grant Digashu an employment permit in terms of section 7 of the Immigration Control Act.
They are also asking the court to order the respondents to pay the costs of the application.
FRED GOEIEMAN
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