A Hungarian missionary who provides 1 000 loaves of bread to needy people may be forced to leave the country.
|||Durban - Hungarian missionary Andras Namenyi provides 1 000 loaves of bread a month and cereal to orphans and vulnerable children in Molweni Valley, near Hillcrest.
For many of the children it’s the only meal of the day.
For a year, he has brought breakfast every morning to more than 300 children at a senior primary school.
He has also built two houses for orphans with international funding.
And yet in an ironic twist of fate, the Department of Home Affairs has cancelled the permit allowing Namenyi’s daughter, 13-year-old Kesia, to stay in the country.
And, to add insult to injury, the reason given for the cancellation is that it has taken too long to process – yet it was the department that seems to have lost documents on at least two occasions, prolonging the application time.
And as International Volunteers’ Day was celebrated on Wednesday, Namenyi spent the day trying to find a solution to a debacle that may see him and his children being forced to leave the country.
“Every three years, our permit applications are submitted through an immigration specialist and approved together. We submitted at the end of February last year [2011].
“I received mine after six months and my son got his after eight months, but Kesia’s documents were lost at least six times in the last 21 months.
“I have had to get letters twice from my daughter’s school and re-submit them.
“Last Friday, my immigration specialist told me that the application for her permit has been denied and Home Affairs indicated that we must resubmit all the documents again.
“This is such a precarious position for my family,” said Namenyi.
After being brought up in Hungary, Namenyi attended university and went into the world of high finance.
“I was involved in corporate banking and knew it wasn’t for me.
“When my brother started speaking to me about the Bible and Christianity, I knew I wanted to do mission work,” said Namenyi.
Eleven years ago he arrived in South Africa, where he started with prison ministry.
“I saw the real need in the townships and started an HIV/Aids hospice. Then I was introduced to the Khulani Kahle Children’s Home and had two houses built for them.
“Our number of orphans has doubled in the last seven years as the need is so great, and with God’s help we have managed to find overseas funding to carry on with our work,” he said.
The Independent on Saturday met Namenyi and Kesia at Siyajabula Centre, where Namenyi feeds close to 200 orphans and vulnerable children.
Every second day he arrives with loaves of bread and also provides the centre with large packets of cereal and it was hungry little tummies and big smiles that greeted him as we arrived.
As the children gathered around, Namenyi worried over who would feed them if he left.
“This country has such great potential, but I do believe that those who are here to help should be treated fairly,” he said.
The Department of Home Affairs said late yesterday evening that its officials would investigate the matter.
Independent on Saurday
