Fat South African threatened with deportation granted reprieve Albert Buitenhuis, who now weights 286 pounds, appealed to the immigration ministry two months ago when his work visa renewal application was rejected because of the demands his obesity could place on the health system. When Mr Buitenhuis and his wife Marthie moved from South Africa to the New Zealand city of Christchurch six years ago, he weighed 352lb and until this year the annual work visa was renewed without any problem. After reviewing information leading to the threat of deportation, Nikki Kaye, the associate immigration minister. said she had "made a decision giving Mr Buitenhuis a work visa for 23 months. "Under this arrangement he is not entitled to publicly-funded health care and he will have to meet any health costs himself," she said. An Immigration New Zealand spokesman said in July that Mr Buitenhuis was rejected because his obesity put him at "significant risk" of complications including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and obstructive sleep apnoea. "It is important that all migrants have an acceptable standard of health to minimise costs and demands on New Zealand's health services," he said. A recent OECD report listed New Zealand as the third-most obese developed nation behind the United States and Mexico.