A woman deemed too fat for New Zealand residency is gutted a country committed to kindness is so brazenly shaming her and penalising her family.
Doctors and medical tests are in agreement: Mondelea Bezuidenhout is in good health, despite weighing 128 kilograms.
However, an Immigration New Zealand medical assessment determined her body mass index put her in a “severe risk” category. Her application for residency was declined, putting her family’s future in jeopardy.
The 35-year-old immigrated to New Zealand with husband Donovan and children Donna and Damien, now 9 and 3, from South Africa in 2018, settling in Palmerston North. Donovan is a skilled migrant, meaning his job as a lineman is a difficult role to fill.
Because of her rejection, no-one in her family was granted residency.
“My whole family’s life was in my hands and I blew it. It was all on me. It was really hard to swallow.
“It was my daughter who actually said to me, ‘Mum, they fat-shamed you’.”
Immigration NZ spokeswoman Yvette McKinley told Stuff Bezuidenhout’s obesity alone was not grounds for declining a residency application, but a gallbladder removal in 2013 and tension headaches, which had required surgery, was evidence her obesity would be costly on the public health system.
That burden has been calculated at $41,000.
Bezuidenhout gained full-time employment in a government department and received a three-year work visa, granting her access to the public health system, when she weighed 150kg.
The thought of now having to leave New Zealand after her family had established roots was “heartbreaking, and scary as hell”, especially for their children.
Her son was seven months old when they left South Africa – “he doesn't know any life outside of New Zealand” – and her daughter was so upset she had to call a mental health hotline.
Bezuidenhout said she had been “bigger” her whole life, and had been bullied in school for it.
“And now I’m being bullied by immigration?”
She took particular issue with the part of the assessment that commented on her previous weight loss attempts, and how they were not convinced she could keep it up.
Bezuidenhout had lost 22 kilograms since moving to New Zealand through meal plans, exercise routines and mindfulness exercises developed with her physician.
The pressure to lose weight since her residency application began has been overwhelming.
“To be honest, every now and again I’d lose my s... and just have to keep myself grounded. I wanted to try all the easiest ways out there [to lose weight]. I thought, if I lose [an extra] 20kgs, would immigration be happy then?”
Dr Cat Pausé, a senior lecturer in Massey University's Institute of Education and fat scholar, said Bezuidenhout was right to feel insulted.
“Weight is not a proxy for health."
She said the use of body mass index to measure individuals was “completely inappropriate” and was “without any kind of evidential basis”.
Pausé went through the same process in 2010 when her residency application was rejected for the same reason.
It took three rounds of medical assessments and appeals for the government to believe Pausé was in good health.
She was now a New Zealand citizen.
“[BMI] is not an indication of past, current or future health.”
She pointed to the All Blacks, who no-one would consider obese, but they were classed that on the BMI scale.
The Bezuidenhouts’ visas expire at the end of July. Because Donovan’s line of work is still in-demand, they are hopeful of renewing their work visas.
Their quest to avoid a life in limbo will be pursued through an appeal of the residency decision. A Givealittle campaign has been started to support their fight.
“It's the 20th century, you should be able to [look] however you want to,” says Bezuidenhout. “I want to lose weight, but it’s going to take me some time.”
