‘I can’t do anything without it,’ says woman who struggles for years to get an ID
Her only goal in life was to obtain an identity document, which would have drastically improved her life. Despite her best efforts, she has been unsuccessful in this endeavour.
Buhlebethu Masango (25) says ever since her mother’s death, she has never seen a light at the end of the tunnel as she struggles to get an identity document (ID).
“Life has been challenging for me ever since my mother passed away. I’ve struggled so much, but the obstacle of not being able to obtain an ID just made matters worse. I’m unemployed, homeless, and responsible for feeding two mouths, which is quite challenging,” she explained.
Masango, a native South African, is believed to be struggling with her inability to obtain an ID because Home Affairs has no record of her mother’s passing.
She said that her mother passed away in Mozambique in 2014 after travelling there to visit with her partner in 2013. A few months later, she became ill, which led to her passing.
“My mother was buried in Mozambique, however, my aunt did bring back a document that was purported to be my mother’s death certificate, she said.”
Masango’s most recent step toward obtaining an ID was applying for an underbridge certificate early last year. She waited nearly six months for feedback before learning that her application had been denied, but she claimed she never received a convincing justification for why it had failed.
Masango’s challenge of not getting an ID grows bigger as she struggles to get a birth certificate for her child.
“I regret a lot of the stupid decisions I’ve made because I don’t have an ID, but I believe that if I could get one, my life would improve. I feel worthless without one,” she said.
According to Mr Sello Selekane, the local Department of Home Affairs office manager, the problem for the woman having trouble getting an ID could be that her mother passed away in another country without any reliable evidence, preventing her from being removed from the system and receiving a death certificate, or it could be that she doesn’t appear under her mother in the system, necessitating the need for proof of her mother’s death.
“She will need to perform DNA testing with her father and try to ascertain who gave birth to her in the process of applying for an ID,” Selekane added.
Selekane has asked for an appointment with Masango to look into this matter.
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