‘Someone has the same ID as me’

Kevin Mayhew is not a Vorster.

The boss of Design & Media Planning has for months been battling to shake off the “Mr Vorster” brand, whenever handing over his identity document to bank consultants.

“I have discovered that all my identity and bank details are linked to a Mr Vorster, who I have been told has a dual citizenship. What will happen to my estate and how will my family inherit it if I die?” said a frustrated Mayhew.

Mayhew relived a baffling experience when he recently visited a bank.

“When I went to Capitec Bank to open a new account, I was told that there was still a hold on my account. Nobody can remove it and I am stymied, by what has been linked to a Mr Vorster,” added Mayhew.

He is in search of an urgent solution to what the department of home affairs officials in Cape Town have explained is “the duplication of the Mayhew identity document to Vorster” – a situation they are finding hard to rectify.

For Mayhew, it all began in 2010, while preparing for a visit of five countries, when he went to “a do-it-for-you service” in Fordsburg to renew his passport.

“I renewed my passport and travelled on passport number F03204004,” he said.

“I travelled to Zambia, Namibia, Mozambique, Lesotho – later going to England. I stayed in England for three weeks on business and in 2011, bought a vehicle on hire purchase in South Africa, with nothing untoward registered against my ID.

“I then had to travel to Zimbabwe but my passport had less than six months to run and had to be renewed. When I went to the home affairs department in Cape Town at the end of 2014 to renew my ID, I was told that it had been duplicated.

“I discovered attached to it was a certain Mr Vorster who had an ID number beginning with 62.”

Mayhew’s identity document woes nearly cost him a business deal in Congo in 2015.

Home affairs spokesperson Siya Qoza said: “The department is investigating this matter. We invite Mr Kevin Mayhew to visit our office to do a fingerprint verification.”