Home Affairs’ incompetency drives Pinetown dad crazy
Nicholas Maurel has been trying to get a copy of his daughter's unabridged birth certificate for the past six months.
THE frustration of having to keep calling the Home Affairs hotline and visit the office to get the correct copy of an unabridged certificate has taken its toll on a Pinetown resident.
Nicholas Maurel said his problem started last November when he went to the Durban Home Affairs to print a copy of his daughter’s unabridged certificate.
“I was surprised when I received the copy with wrong information on it, the month and date in my ID number was reversed. Instead of my name, they printed a name and surname which I have never heard before.
“When I asked how did that mistake happen, I was told that there are two systems, one is called 120 which prints correct information and the other is a 012 which has incorrect information,” said Maurel.
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He was also told the type of certificate his daughter has can only be printed in Pretoria.
“I really do not understand why it has to be so difficult to sort out this issue when the original copy has all the correct details and they have it on the system,” he said
Last week Thursday, Maurel spent almost the whole day at the Durban Home Affairs. “I got there at 8am but had to wait for the supervisor who attended to me at 9.30am.
“I explained my problem and he said he has reset the system and I must try to print it again. I waited for an hour and was told I can only print the copy in Pretoria. I had to wait again for him to email the Pretoria offices,” explained Maurel.
At 2pm, he received a call from the Home Affairs Hotline and was told he needs to go back to the Durban offices to fill in some forms.
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“When I got there, they told me that they do not release those forms after 2pm. I had to speak to the supervisor again who gave me the forms,” said Maurel.
He said this is really depressing him now.
“I urgently need this copy to apply for a foreign passport for my daughter.”
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