Answers to your questions
Have a question you would like answered? Email us and we may answer it. The questions here are based on ones from our readers, with identifying information removed.
Please note: GroundUp is just a news agency. We are not lawyers or financial advisors, and we have nothing to do with SASSA, Home Affairs, or any other government bodies. We do our best to make the answers accurate using publicly available information, but we cannot accept any legal liability if there are errors. If you notice any discrepancies, please email info@groundup.org.za.
I was denied a student visa because my name is on an “internal control list” but I have never even been to South Africa. What can I do?
The simplest route would probably be to get help from an organisation that regularly deals with Home Affairs' dysfunction.
What can my mother do to get funding for the old age community centre she has started on the municipal plot where she lives?
She could ask the municipality if they could endorse the project and give her official approval for it.
I got scammed by the lawyer when I tried to buy a property. How can I get my money back?
You can lodge a complaint with the Legal Practice Council and lay criminal charges with the police.
What should I do to ensure that the lobola I paid for the mother of my child will go to the child if I lost the agreement letter?
You could draw up an affidavit that both you and the mother of your child should sign.
How can we evict illegal occupiers from my parents' house if my mother's name doesn't appear on the title deed and my dad has run off with another woman?
If your mother and father divorced, they would each be entitled to 50% of the joint estate created by being married in community of property.
What procedures do I need to take to get citizenship, as my mother is South African but my father is a Lesotho citizen and I was born in Lesotho, though I have been studying in South Africa?
As it is your mother that is South African, not your father, I don’t think they should require a DNA test from your father. However, they might want one from you and your mother.
What can I do as my ex-wife, with whom I was married in community of property, refuses to sign off on her share of the house?
The divorce order, which is binding on both parties, does not in itself vest ownership in the other spouse, although it does create the right to enforce transfer.
Can SASSA reclaim grant money because I earned a wage of R1,300
SASSA can demand repayment for the period that your income exceeded the qualifying amount of the grant.
Why is my RDP application status saying "in allocation"?
"In allocation" means that the provincial Allocation Committee is in the process of deciding who should be allocated a house and you are among the applicants being considered.
Can I use my late father’s documents to apply for a study permit in South Africa? He was Zimbabwean but had a non-citizen SA ID.
Your father's permanent residence in South Africa does not give you access to study in South Africa.