Life has become a living hell for a Soweto father who has struggled to get his ID sorted out for a decade.
Siphiwe Mkhwanazi, 38, went to vote at a local voting station in Central Western Jabavu, Soweto, in 2009. He presented his ID to the Independent Electoral Commission officials for scanning and he was told he was deceased.
Although he voted, that was the start of a difficult chapter in his life. After the election, Mkhwanazi went to home affairs and its system showed that he had died a year before.
Officials advised him to make an affidavit to confirm he was alive and he complied. He was also told to go to Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, where he was born, to get his file and brought it to home affairs.
Mkhwanazi said he was also asked to provide documents from the school where he did his grade 1. He submitted them all to home affairs officials.
While doing all these runaround, he lost his ID in 2013 and his troubles worsened as home affairs could not produce a new ID for him.
"I went there and they asked me to place my fingerprint for reading and there was no file with my name in it. They took someone who was behind me in the queue, he placed his fingers on the machine and his file came up. I placed mine again and nothing came up. I actually do not exist at home affairs," he said.
Father battles ID woes
Life has become a living hell for a Soweto father who has struggled to get his ID sorted out for a decade.
Siphiwe Mkhwanazi, 38, went to vote at a local voting station in Central Western Jabavu, Soweto, in 2009. He presented his ID to the Independent Electoral Commission officials for scanning and he was told he was deceased.
Although he voted, that was the start of a difficult chapter in his life. After the election, Mkhwanazi went to home affairs and its system showed that he had died a year before.
Officials advised him to make an affidavit to confirm he was alive and he complied. He was also told to go to Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, where he was born, to get his file and brought it to home affairs.
Mkhwanazi said he was also asked to provide documents from the school where he did his grade 1. He submitted them all to home affairs officials.
While doing all these runaround, he lost his ID in 2013 and his troubles worsened as home affairs could not produce a new ID for him.
"I went there and they asked me to place my fingerprint for reading and there was no file with my name in it. They took someone who was behind me in the queue, he placed his fingers on the machine and his file came up. I placed mine again and nothing came up. I actually do not exist at home affairs," he said.
Home affairs issued Mkhwanazi with a new ID in 2016 but it had the wrong gender. He is still waiting for home affairs to tell him when his ID problem will be fixed. The wait is becoming heavier by the day for Mkhwanazi.
"I have lost a job and it is impossible for me to get one without an ID. I don't even have a bank account. I have nothing. I am literally stuck. It feels like I need to do something traditional for things to work out," Mkhwanazi said.
Things got worse in September when he lost his job.
His sister, Makhosazane Mkhwanazi, is now worried about his situation and fears that it could sink him into depression.
"His spirit is down. We are trying as a family to motivate him not to give up on life but this ID thing has really hit him hard," Nkosazane said.
Mkhwanazi is the father to a five-year-old boy.
Several attempts to get comment from home affairs did not yield any results.