Limpopo mother battles Home Affairs over gender error on ID
A Limpopo mother has spent years trying to fix a gender error on her ID. She now fears she may not be able to vote or find work.
LIMPOPO – A 40-year-old single mother from Dididi village in the Mulenzhe area outside Thohoyandou says she has struggled for years to obtain a valid identity document after the Department of Home Affairs recorded her gender as male.
Rofhiwa Mulaudzi says her ordeal began in January 2004, when she applied for her first ID. When the document was issued the following month, she discovered that her gender had been recorded incorrectly.
“I applied in January 2004, but when it was issued in February, I was declared a man,” Mulaudzi said.
She tried to resolve the problem in November 2017 when she applied for a Smart ID card at the Home Affairs office in Makwarela.
She said officials told her that her record had, however, been deleted since she shared an identity number with another person.
“When I went to Home Affairs in Makwarela, the officers there told me my Smart Card was deleted.”
Years of applications, no card
Mulaudzi said she started the formal process to resolve the duplicate identity number in March 2022, but never received her card.
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She reapplied in August 2023 and submitted another application in June 2026, but the problem remains unresolved.
“When I go to check, the officers always tell me it is still in process. It has been like that for years,” she said.
Unable to work, worried about voting
The prolonged delay has affected her ability to support her family.
As an unemployed single mother of two, Mulaudzi says she cannot apply for jobs that require a valid ID and struggles to access social support services.
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With the local government election scheduled for November 4, she is also worried that she may be unable to vote.
“I am worried that I will not be able to vote. I can no longer look for a job to support my two children as a single mother. I feel like I don’t exist,” she said.
Home Affairs yet to respond
The Department of Home Affairs had not responded to questions about Mulaudzi’s case by the time of going to press.
Provincial spokesperson Thabo Mokgola undertook to respond, but no response had been received at the time of going to print.
