IDENTITY theft is rife in South Africa. My niece, 21, was blacklisted when she was 9 years old and she only discovered this recently when she tried to open an account.

The company that sent the adverse information was liquidated a few years ago. The Credit Bureau has cleared her since it was obvious that she was a victim of identity theft.

Mokazane Sedumedi almost did not get a home loan because ADT Security had wrongfully blacklisted him.

Sedumedi discovered this last week when First National Bank declined his application on the basis that he had failed to pay the security company R11696 for services in 2009.

He said his wife called ADT after his application was declined and discovered that ADT did not even have a copy of his ID.

A Yvonne Xaba was their client, but ADT blacklisted Sedumedi.

When Consumer Line called Syrella Jacobs of ADT's legal section she said they held Sedumedi liable because clients would sometimes enlist their services for their parents who did not live with them.

Jacobs was shocked when we said that ADT was servicing a children's centre in Lenasia, Gauteng, and not Sedumedi. She corrected the blacklisting and FNB is now processing the home loan. Jacobs also apologised for any inconvenience or embarrassment the company had caused Sedumedi.

But Consumer Line could not assist Elizabeth Masemola. She was blacklisted for not paying ADT R12000, though she said she had cancelled her contract with the security company for alleged poor service.

She said ADT had agreed to terminate the contract.

Tessa Marsh of ADT said that Masemola had signed a 36 months contract, which ends in February 2011. She said Masemola had defaulted on her account a month after she signed up.

Marsh said the intermittent defaults continued until June last year, after which ADT suspended its service in July.

"At this point Masemola was R2095 in arrears. We contacted her and she agreed to the service being suspended until she could pay the outstanding amount," Marsh said.

She said Masemola failed to honour her undertaking to pay the arrears.

"As a last resort before going to the Credit Bureau, ADT advised her to contact its legal department to find a payment solution. She did not oblige," Marsh said.

She said in February this year ADT reported her to the Credit Bureau for R12000, which included arrears, the unexpired portion of the contract, the value of the rented system and legal fees.

"At no point in the numerous communications between ADT and the client was mention ever made of poor service delivery," Marsh said.

• ADT has not been helpful said Pearl Moabelo, whose house was burgled.

Moabelo, who had joined ADT in March, said her house was burgled after she had told ADT that she was going away for a few days. She said management at their Ormonde branch had told her they had sent out a patrol officer on the night of the burglary.

She said her credit card was stolen and fraudulently used after the burglary.

"A day after the burglary, ADT's head office said they had sent out another officer, who reported that everything was okay," Moabelo said.

She said ADT said they needed three months to investigate, but after six months they had still not told her anything.

Responding to the claim, Marsh said their reaction officer checked the house on March 26 and found everything in order.

"ADT has kept the client informed about the investigation. We will share the details when the investigation is concluded," she said.