For nearly two decades, a German couple have called South Africa their second home. Since 2005, pensioners Petra and Alfred Grueniger say they have invested millions of rand into the country, purchasing property and establishing a life here.
The couple first visited South Africa in November 2005 and quickly fell in love with the country. Just two months later, they purchased a flat in Hibberdene on the South Coast. Over the years, they deepened their ties by investing in additional properties, including a house in Crestholme, which they built in 2010.
For years, the couple split their time between Germany and South Africa, spending five to six months in each country. Despite having a home in Germany, they always considered South Africa their second home and therefore submitted applications to Home Affairs for permanent residence permits.
“We have lovely friends here and would love to stay as long as we can,” Petra says. “My husband is 85 now, and I am 80. But we are both fit and hope to make it another couple of years.”
But now, after eight years of waiting for permanent residence permits, they find themselves packing their bags once again, forced to leave before March 9 to avoid overstaying their tourist visas.
Their ordeal began in March 2017 when they submitted their applications to Home Affairs. At the time, they were assured the process would take eight to ten months. Instead, years passed with no resolution.
“Every three months, we must leave the country for one to two weeks just to avoid overstaying our visa, always hoping that our applications will be approved. We spent millions in South Africa and are definitely not a burden to the country!” said Petra.
She said they carried out numerous follow-ups via emails and phone calls and they received only repeated assurances that their case had been escalated. Each time, they were told to check back in a few weeks.
This month they finally received some good news: Alfred’s application had been finalised, however Petra’s was still pending.
The couple, who had always applied as a retired pair, said they could not understand why one was approved while the other remained in limbo.
“It’s good news that my husband’s application is finalised, but mine is still pending. If it isn’t approved soon, we will have to leave again,” said Petra.
“We could have applied for a 90-day extension, but there’s no guarantee we would get it before our current visa expired.… Friends overstayed their visas by mistake for just two days and were blocked from entry for an entire year. We cannot take that risk.”
The couple says this has taken an emotional toll on them.
“After I had written to the ministerial office in January and received no response, we were mentally finished with South Africa,” Petra said.
Adding to their frustration is the fact that when they check their application status, it is unchanged with no indication that Alfred was approved.
“Their polite letter from last Monday hasn’t changed anything, it’s terrible!” said Petra.Home Affairs had not responded by the time of publication to a request for comment sent last week.
The couple’s experience has led them to rethink their future.
"We can no longer recommend that any European pensioner spend their retirement and their money in South Africa. It is heartbreaking," Petra said.
The Home Affairs department had not responded by the time of publication to a request for comment sent last week.