Alive woman declared dead

ZWELISHA – A 57-year-old woman had the shock of her life when she was declared dead by home affairs.

Ms Margaret Ngomane is alleged to have died in 1997. This came to light in 2010 when she visited the department’s offices in KaBokweni to apply for a new ID.

“My life turned into a nightmare after I had lost my ID. I decided to go and apply for a new one. I couldn’t believe my ears when they told me that I had died in 1997 and at first I didn’t take it seriously until they showed me my death certificate. My life is at a standstill.

“I can’t do anything, even my two kids are struggling to take IDs because I was declared dead,” she explained. Mpumalanga News learnt that for the past six years Ngomane had made numerous visits to the department, but it seemed to have been a waste of time and energy since she did not get a positive response.

“I have visited different offices of home affairs. I have been to White River and Mbombela hoping that they would be able to resolve the problem, but it was just a waste of time.

“Another thing that kills me is the fact that I am sharing fingerprints with someone, but they didn’t elaborate further on that.

Really, I don’t know what is going on or maybe they are playing games with me because not so long ago, they said I must reapply, then after a month they said I shared fingerprints with someone. On the other side, they declared me dead,” she said.

To add to the confusion, the death certificate stipulates that she died in Gutjwa, an area she has never been to.

“I am fed up because my life has been turned upside down. I am planning to launch a complaint to the Public Protector, maybe they are going to take me seriously and rectify the mistake.

I even tried to give them copies of my old ID, but they don’t care.
They kept on telling me the same thing. I can’t take it anymore, I can’t even sleep at night because I am always asking myself how long am I going to suffer with my children,” she lamented.

Mpumalanga News discovered that Ngomane is not the only person who is facing this problem. Mr David Gumede of KaNyamazane was also declared dead by home affairs in 2009.

“After I discovered the problem, I went to home affairs and they promised to assist me. I start everything afresh.

When l returned after three months, instead of getting my ID, they issued me a death certificate again. I have lost hope, it’s better to die because they have buried me alive,” said Gumede.

The paper contacted the district manager of the department, Ms Doris Chiloane who said, “If people have problems and are not happy with the service, they must ask for a supervisor.

“If they are not satisfied, they must ask for the district manager. My office is always open, it is just that we are very busy, people have to be patient,”
she concluded.