The Bishop of the Diocese of Aliwal in South Africa, Msgr. Joseph Mary Kizito, invited the Lesotho Catholic Bishops’ Conference Commission on Integral Human Development and the Lesotho Government Ministry of Home Affairs to visit his Diocese.
The visit took place on the 23rd of May 2023. Of paramount importance was to meet the immigrants believed to be mainly from Lesotho, now settled in South Africa for many years, who are considered stateless as they have neither Lesotho nor South African documentation. Special focus was on undocumented children who receive pastoral care from the Diocesan bishop.
The Diocese of Aliwal assists these children in many ways, including access to schooling, food, clothing, spiritual care and psychosocial care as well as legal assistance. Among the challenges discussed was how the Lesotho Government can work together with their South African counterparts in regularizing their stay in South Africa.