PIENAAR – A 46-year-old citizen from this area could not believe his ears when he was declared a foreign national by the Department of Home affairs recently.
Mr David Mlambo, who claimed that he was born in Matubatuba in KwaZulu-Natal, said when he went to apply for a birth certificate for his son at Nelspruit home affairs in 2013, he discovered that his ID book had been blocked.
“I could not believe my ears when I was told by an official of the department that the reason was because I was not a South African.””They did not elaborate further. Since I am apparently not a South African, my citizenship has left me with a dilemma,” he lamented.
Mpumalanga News learned that Mlombo’s nightmare started after his mother revealed his real father’s identity, as he had been using his mother’s surname at the time.
“After my mother showed me my real father, I was over the moon to use my real surname (Malinga) as things were not going well for me.
“I applied for a new ID book in KwaZulu-Natal.
After three months I went to the offices to check on it and, instead of receiving my ID book, they informed me that my status officially indicated I was an immigrant.
“I just wondered how I got such a status as no one explained anything to me. Instead my life is now hell.
“My other biggest worry is my son who still hasn’t received his birth certificate as a result. I approached the department several times, both in Nelspruit and KwaZulu-Natal but to no avail.
“The last time I heard from the department was in 2014 when I received an SMS confirming my application.
“Now I feel lost in my own country and get emotional when I think about my son’s life, because I don’t want him to go through the same ordeal. I am trying to correct things for me and my family, but instead I am rejected and declared an immigrant,” he concluded.
The district manager of home affairs, Ms Doris Chiloane said,”In such cases where an ID book had been blocked sometimes it is because one is here in the country illegally or the ID is fraudulent.
We advise him to come to our office with documents and proof that he and his relatives and siblings are South Africans. We will then conduct a DNA test to see if it is his real family, and if the results are positive we will assist him.”
