uMgeni Park man declared alive after two year battle

AN uMgeni Park resident says he is relieved after a two year battle with Home Affairs to prove he is not dead has finally come to an end. Jan Meyer, 66, was declared dead in 2015 by the Department of Home Affairs. The Browns Drift Road resident said that his life had come to a standstill after he was informed by the department’s offices in Umgeni Road when he was applying for a new ID, that he was “deceased”.

“I was at the department two weeks ago and was trying to re-apply for my ID document. I was still being pushed from pillar to post but nothing had been done. The department’s record still reflected I died in Sasolburg, I’ve never been to the place. Eventually I said I’m not leaving the offices until they sort it out. Eventually they found the document which was sent in September last year by the Pretoria office saying my deceased status had been expunged.

“I’m so relieved that the battle is finally over. I was worried, especially for my wife, who was declared a widow. She also tried to get the Home Affairs department to rectify the mistake. There’s a huge weight off my shoulders now after completing numerous documents and affidavits,” he said.

Despite being declared dead on the national population register, Meyer was able to visit Namibia twice he said, and Maputo four times.

“What has been the most frustrating is that no one can tell me it may have been an error at the capturing stage or a duplication because of the same names. There are promises of investigation, but no one does anything. I hope that a thorough investigation is done to determine how this happened in the first place,” he said.