The Department of Home Affairs has turned a white Durban young man black in a bungle that has left the 18-year-old white teenager sporting the photo of a black man in his identity document.

The Department of Home Affairs has turned a white Durban young man black in a bungle that has left the 18-year-old white teenager sporting the photo of a black man in his identity document.

All the details on Phillipus Grobler's new identity document are correct, except his picture - which is that of a black man.

Grobler's mother told The Mercury newspaper that she was "a bit puzzled" when a postal worker asked her if her son was black.

"It is ridiculous. How can a mistake like this happen?" the angry mother was quoted as saying.

Home Affairs spokesman Jacky Mashapu apologised and told the newspaper that the manual processing of the identity book had led to the mistake.

Grobler, whose picture was splashed across The Mercury, cannot apply to enrol in a course in order to complete his Grade 11 studies.

What was not clear from the report was which black person, if any, had Grobler's photo in his identity document. - Sapa