Home Affairs horror for Siyathemba
Having matriculated last year, Siyathemba is currently at home and not studying while his peers have gone to further their studies.
Siyathemba Sithole’s (21) life is on hold because he cannot obtain an identity card (ID) due to the inaccurate information on his unabridged birth certificate.
Due to the fact that his birth certificate lists an unidentified mother, Siyathemba cannot enrol in classes for the upcoming semester or apply for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
Having matriculated last year, Siyathemba is currently at home and not studying while his peers have gone to further their studies.
“I lost my original birth certificate in the floods last December and when I went to re-apply for one, I was shocked that it came back with an unknown woman’s name as my mother,” said Siyathemba.
He added that on both his mother and father’s side, no one knows who Sindisiwe Masikane is.
“I was then instructed to complete an affidavit stating that Sindisiwe is not my mother, which I did, but when I returned to the Department of Home Affairs to correct the error, they reprinted another copy for me and it still came back incorrect,” wailed Siyathemba. He continued by saying that he was then instructed to accompany his mother, Phindile Mncube, to the neighbourhood police station to complete another affidavit in which his mother had to once again explain the same thing.
“We both completed the affidavit last month and returned to Home Affairs, and the printout indicated the same thing. This has caused so much grief and concern to my mother, who sees my future slipping through my hands because of this nightmare,” Siyathemba explained.
He also claimed that he was somewhat disturbed by an employee at Home Affairs who advised him to ‘just accept that this unidentified woman is his mother’. “How can I agree to that? This is my identity we are talking about and I do not want to cause any more problems in the future for myself by agreeing,” a troubled Siyathemba cried.
Home Affairs manager Mbongeni Mhlongo commented that the department will rectify the issue by sending the necessary documents to their head office.
