An ecstatic, smiling Zizipho, carrying a small bouquet of white flowers and wearing a pretty white dress with yellow flowers, said one happy word when the ceremony was over and she was married to Pastor Emmanuel Ochogwu: “Finally.”

“I am superblessed and excited,” commented the bridegroom. “This has been an amazing day — a really good day.”

In 2016 the Department of Home Affairs banned asylum seekers from getting married in South Africa in what it said was an attempt to root out marriages of convenience. It took Ochogwu’s legal team four years, but on Thursday 17 December his attorney Liesl Fourie was there to witness him and his wife finally get married.

Ochogwu, who works as a pastor at the Dominion Embassy Church in Port Elizabeth, came to South Africa in 2011 after his life became threatened by a growing number of attacks on Christian believers by the rebel group Boko Haram in Nigeria.

“I have seen and am aware of numerous Christians that have been killed by Boko Haram. These Christians were thrown in wells or burned,” he explained. “Boko Haram has also attacked churches, by burning them down or bombing them. My younger brother was killed by Boko Haram during one such attack. At a time when the attacks against Christians and churches were increasing, I came to South Africa as I feared for my life. I arrived in South Africa in 2011.”

He was issued with a temporary residence permit by the Department of Home Affairs. His application for asylum was refused but he appealed against this decision and has been waiting for seven years for a hearing. If his appeal is successful, he will be declared a refugee and be able to live permanently in South Africa.

Ochogwu married his wife, a South African citizen, under customary law in September 2015, but they have been struggling ever since to get officials from the Department of Home Affairs in Port Elizabeth to register the marriage.

First he was asked for proof of the customary union, confirming that he had paid lobola and requiring his father-in-law to provide an affidavit. Then he was sent several times to Pretoria for verification of his refugee permit application. Even after this was done, officials still refused to register his marriage, saying the law had changed and asylum seekers could no longer get married.

“As a pastor in a Christian community, I want to set an example by entering into a civil marriage with my wife as it indicates to all that this will be a monogamous, long-term relationship. We were very upset that we were not allowed to get married civilly,” he said.

In November 2016, Linton Harmse, head of the Refugee Rights Centre at Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, discovered that a directive had been sent to Department of Home Affairs offices instructing officials not to register civil unions for asylum seekers. Officials claimed they could not give Harmse a copy of this directive and the document only surfaced publicly in 2017.

Ochogwu’s legal team, led by advocate Lilla Crouse SC, went to court to have the directive declared unconstitutional. The Port Elizabeth High Court did so, but the department appealed against the ruling to the Supreme Court of Appeal. In  a scathing judgment, coupled with a punitive court order, the deputy-president of the Supreme Court of Appeal, Judge Xola Petse, last year confirmed that the directive was unconstitutional.

The couple, however, still had to wait for the department to draw up a new directive. Earlier this week the couple was called in for an interview at Home Affairs and on Thursday they were married.

“I feel so relieved,” Ochogwu said. “It gave me security. What we are doing is real. There is a strong love and commitment. There are so many fake marriages out there. We have been together for a long time. Our parents are very excited,” he said.

Ochogwu’s declaration of love to his wife during the ceremony left even the most hardened of civil servants at Home Affairs a little teary-eyed.

He thanked his legal team. “Love is real,” he said. “It is more than just a feeling. It is a commitment.”

“I am so happy,” Zizipho said. “Today at Home Affairs everyone was so eager to help us. This is going to be a wonderful Christmas.”

Fourie, an attorney from the Nelson Mandela University Refugee Rights Centre, accompanied them to make sure all went well.

“We were honoured to witness the solemnisation of Mr and Mrs Ochogwu’s marriage today,” said Fourie.

“The couple didn’t hesitate one second when we asked them to take up the challenge against the Department of Home Affairs decision to refuse asylum seeker marriages. They put a face to the thousands of faceless asylum seekers affected by this patently unconstitutional prohibition.

“Today we not only witnessed a wonderful couple’s marriage, but we also witnessed justice and human rights prevail. We wish Mr and Mrs Ochogwu a long and happy marriage together,” she said. DM/MC

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