081 496 8907
NWHR
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Help. Hope. A New Beginning.

Supporting refugees and vulnerable communities with essential services, professional assistance and a pathway toward a more secure future.

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A caseworker and a woman seated across a desk, looking at an open folder of documents together.

  • 500K+

    Refugees helped

  • 100K+

    Counselling sessions

  • 850K+

    Food parcels shared

  • 35+

    Professional team

Two women sitting side by side at an office desk over an open folder of papers. One takes notes with a pen; the other is speaking and gesturing towards the page.

Who we are

Help that starts with papers and does not stop there.

A permit is what a school place, a formal job and most support depend on. We start there, then stay with the same person through everything that follows.

  1. Come in with what you have

    First visit

    A caseworker works out what is missing and what happens next. No appointment, and no documents required to be seen.

  2. We go with you

    Every visit after

    To Home Affairs and to the school — not a referral and good luck. The same caseworker stays on your file.

  • Consent before anything is stored
  • Permit numbers encrypted at rest
  • Documents shared by private link only
  • English · Français · Kiswahili · Português
  • Referral to attorneys, at no cost
  • Under 18 only with a recorded guardian
More about usTalk to a person081 496 8907
A waiting area with people seated along one wall while a caseworker crosses the room carrying a folder.
Two people's hands over an application form on a desk, one holding a pen and the other pointing at a line.

Why we are here

Support that makes a difference, not a referral.

North West House of Refuge works with refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in Rustenburg, North West. Most people arrive because of a document, and stay for everything a document unlocks — a school place, a formal job, a bank account.

Empowering. Integrating. Transforming Lives.

  • Documentation, education, skills, social cohesion, and women and youth
  • A walk-in service — no appointment, and no documents needed to be seen
  • The same caseworker stays on your file, from the first visit onwards
Given this month
R 40 456
Raised this year
R 140 456

Where your giving goes

Give to one thing, and see what it pays for.

Two people sitting at a service counter over an application form, one holding a worn envelope of documents.

Getting papers in order

Transport to Home Affairs in Rustenburg, certified copies, and a caseworker who goes with you.

Donation42%
Raised: R 50 400Goal: R 120 000
Donate now: Getting papers in order
A child in school uniform, seen from behind, walking through a school gate with a backpack.

A place in school

Uniforms, stationery and the paperwork a school asks for before it will take a child.

Donation68%
Raised: R 122 400Goal: R 180 000
Donate now: A place in school
Hands guiding fabric through an industrial sewing machine in a training room, other machines behind.

Skills and a first income

Short courses, tools and start-up stock for someone building a small business.

Donation15%
Raised: R 36 000Goal: R 240 000
Donate now: Skills and a first income
Seen from above, hands packing maize meal, tinned food and cooking oil into cardboard relief boxes.

Food and a safe night

Food parcels and emergency shelter for a family who arrived at the office with nothing.

Donation88%
Raised: R 79 200Goal: R 90 000
Donate now: Food and a safe night
Women seated in a circle of plastic chairs in a community hall, one of them speaking.

Women and young people

Support groups, safety work and holiday programmes for young people out of school.

Donation33%
Raised: R 49 500Goal: R 150 000
Donate now: Women and young people

What we run

Five programmes, one office

Get involved

A volunteer sitting with a mother and her small child, going through a folder of papers on a low table.

An hour a week is useful

Become a volunteer?

Contact now
People waiting on chairs down both sides of a corridor, in silhouette against a bright doorway at the far end.
A long queue of people waiting along the front of a low building on a bright morning, seen from across the road.

Every rand is accounted for

Make a donation?

Donate now

Who gives their time

Our volunteers

Nobody here is paid to sit in a Home Affairs queue for six hours. These are the four things volunteers do most, and an hour a week is genuinely useful.

  • A man in a linen shirt sitting at a café table, turned towards the camera.

    Home Affairs trips

    Volunteer · name once consent is recorded

  • A man in a brightly patterned shirt smiling, against a painted yellow wall.

    Interpreting

    Volunteer · name once consent is recorded

  • A man in a yellow and white striped jumper smiling, in a room with soft daylight behind him.

    School placements

    Volunteer · name once consent is recorded

  • A man in a work apron smiling, warm lights out of focus behind him.

    Skills workshops

    Volunteer · name once consent is recorded

Become a volunteer

In their words

What people say about us

“I came in with a photocopy and nothing else. Someone sat down with me, wrote out what was missing, and came with me to Home Affairs three times. My son started school in April.”

A man in a brightly patterned shirt smiling, against a painted yellow wall.Name once consent is recordedBeneficiary, Rustenburg

“We refer families here when the paperwork goes beyond what we can do. They take the case, they keep us updated, and they do not hand somebody back with a form and good luck.”

A man in a linen shirt sitting at a café table, turned towards the camera.Name once consent is recordedPartner organisation

“You spend the morning in a queue and the afternoon on the phone to a school. It is not glamorous work. It is the difference between a child being enrolled this year or next year.”

A man in a work apron smiling, warm lights out of focus behind him.Name once consent is recordedVolunteer

“I wanted to know where the money went, and they showed me: transport, certified copies, uniforms. Small amounts, itemised, and every one of them attached to somebody with a name.”

A man in a yellow and white striped jumper smiling, in a room with soft daylight behind him.Name once consent is recordedDonor

Let’s talk

Tell us what you need help with and we will come back to you. If it is urgent, or writing is difficult, call instead — somebody answers during office hours.

Only if you would like a written reply. A phone number in the message works too.

This opens your email app with the message ready to send — you press send there, and nothing is stored on this site. If email is difficult, call 081 496 8907 instead.

Where we are
12 Pretorius Street, Rustenburg 0300Next to FNB, in the same building as Rock of Spring College
Languages
English · Français · Kiswahili · Português