A SOUTH African businesswoman is preparing to fly out of Scotland after officials ruled she can no longer stay with her husband.

Over 5000 people – more than the entire population of the island where she lives – have signed a petition urging Sajid Javid to keep Lizanne Zietsman on Arran.

She and husband John Malpas met in 2006 while working in the same local hotel and, after a period of travel across Africa and beyond, planned to live on the west coast island permanently, investing money inherited from Malpas’ parents in the purchase of a business.

The Sandwich Station in Lochranza is now one of the island’s most popular cafes.

READ MORE: John Malpas's thank-you letter to community

Now both have been advised to quit the country after an application to live there was rejected.

And, threatened with detention and deportation, Zietsman has just over one week before she must fly away from her husband and home.

Zietsman declined to speak about the case for fear of blacklisting by the Home Office.

However, Malpas told this newspaper the couple have been caught up in Theresa May’s “hostile environment” for immigrants, a policy aimed at slashing the number of incomers. Malpas, who has lived on Arran since his teens, said: “Lizanne is friends with everybody, she’s gregarious and funny and just a great person.

“I’m shocked and angry. The schools have just finished, it’s the start of our main business season and it will be a struggle to run the shop without her.

“Our financial year ends on July 31 and we will be well over the financial threshold. But Lizanne can’t make a new application unless she leaves the UK first.

“As soon as we got the letter we were being hounded by the voluntary returns service saying ‘within 24 hours, you need to have booked your flights’.”

Zietsman has been living in the UK under a spousal visa granted on the basis of the couple’s savings. The permissions last 2.5 years and, as its expiry neared, Zietsman – following the advice of lawyers – lodged an unsuccessful application based on human rights rules which protect family life.

She has been advised that an appeal is unlikely to succeed and cannot apply again until she leaves the UK altogether – and stays away for a period of weeks.

The couple believe they will not be reunited until the end of October, based on application guidelines and processing times.

That’s if a new visa – set to cost almost £4000 in Home Office fees and legal costs – is approved at all.

Officials say there are no “insurmountable obstacles” to the relationship continuing and the pair could just move to South Africa, where Zietsman has family.

But their local community disagrees, with as many as 20 people accompanying Zietsman to a meeting with her MP, Patricia Gibson – who has raised the matter in parliament and with ministers – to ask for help.

A mass letter-writing campaign is now underway to urge the Home Office to reconsider, and more than 5200 people – more than Arran’s entire headcount – have signed an online petition to keep the couple in Corrie. Posted on the 38 Degrees website, it states: “It is clear to the whole community that this decision is fundamentally wrong.”

Arran residents and visitors alike have signed the petition, calling Zietsman “valued”, “well-respected” and “an integral part of island life”.

George Grassie, owner of the Blackwater Bakehouse, counts her as a friend and client. More than half of the loaves from his microbakery are sold to The Sandwich Station. He told The National: “There’s a lot of noise to show some support for keeping her on the island.

“This is ridiculous bureaucracy. The shock and affront that somebody’s getting taken from her husband and business, that’s callous and heavy handed. I feel disgusted.”

The Home Office said: “All applications are considered on their individual merits, on the basis of the evidence provided.”

Click here to view the petition on 38degrees