Shayamoya gogo’s long walk to ID freedom

Gogo Funani Thusi of Shayamoya finally has an official identity – after 72 years.

But it was a tortuous route to obtain the stamp of approval.

It all started with her 28-year-old grandson Sakhile’s fruitless attempts of finding employment because he had no identification document (ID).

He had no ID because his mother before him was without an ID because of grandmother Funani’s ‘incognito’ status. So Sakhile found himself in no-man’s land.

In September 2018 he heard about non-profit organisation Summerhill House from a friend and asked for assistance.

He reported his grandmother had applied for an ID in July 2015 but was never issued with one. She kept on re-applying at the Department of Home Affairs, with no success.

Summerhill House intervened and accompanied gogo Funani to Home Affairs in 2019 to re-apply once more.

The following year Home Affairs advised they suspected she was not a South African citizen and would not be issued with an ID, recommending she finds relatives to provide proof.

Funani’s mother and grandmother had passed away, however, but Summerhill were able to contact her sister Sebenzile who held a valid ID.

Armed with the evidence, Summerhill and Funani returned to Home Affairs and she was told to re-apply once again.

After two months the ID was still not issued and Summerhill called various Home Affairs offices to enquire about the delay, but received no response.

In September last year, Summerhill and Funani again returned to KwaDukuza Home Affairs, but were referred to immigration. That is when they discovered that her ID was blocked.

She was told her ID had been allocated to 2 people, but Funani was able to prove it belonged to her because of her sister’s birth certificate as validation.

After submitting yet another application, her ID was finally issued in December last year.

This allowed her to finally apply for an old age pension at Sassa and received a grant for the first time on March 3.

The family has been receiving psycho-social support at Summerhill House since 2018 and have received food parcels, clothes and toiletries every month donated by The North Coast Courier Orphan Fund.

Summerhill House will continue to assist the Thusi family until they have all been issued with their ID documents.

The non-profit organisation thanked the Orphan Fund for helping to change lives.

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