The actress revealed her South African passport expired this year, and she has been battling to renew it.
Actress Pamela Nomvete says she is being denied her South African citizenship.
Now based in the United Kingdom, Nomvete is best known for her role as Ntsiki Lukhele on the SABC 1 soapie Generations and as Deborah on Mzansi Magic’s drama, Lockdown.
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Pamela Nomvete’s passport woes
In a lengthy Instagram post, the actress revealed that she is unable to travel to South Africa because of passport complications, despite being a recognised dual citizen.
Nomvete explained that she obtained her South African citizenship in 1994 after returning from exile to vote in the country’s first democratic elections.
“This year, my South African passport expired, and now I am trying to renew it. I am literally being told all over again to prove my South African citizenship and produce my late parents’ documents — their birth certificates and ID documents. My parents are now on the ancestral plain, so I am not able to get these papers,” she said.
Nomvete said that her British passport alone is not enough to travel, as dual citizens are required to hold valid documents from both countries.
“I can’t help wondering if Spike Lee, who has no immediate links to South Africa, applied for a passport —would they give him this runaround? I doubt it. He would most likely be met by President Cyril Ramaphosa on a red carpet,” she wrote.
She added: “I am heartbroken, but shall still fight to get my passport and be recognised as a dual citizen —a South African Brit born in Ethiopia…. Once an exile, always an exile.”
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