No ID book, no wedding

2009-01-26 19:03

Thabisile Khoza

Kwamhlanga - Mavis Mabena can't get married because she has been waiting for seven years for her ID book application to be processed.

Now she has turned to the public protector for help.

Investigating officer in the public protector's officer, Stanley Mhinga, confirmed that Mabena's complaint had been lodged and was being investigated.

"We receive lots of complaints from the public about the department of home affairs' mishandling applications," he said.

He said that if the department was found to be at fault, they would be instructed to rectify the problem immediately.

Mabena, 24, of Tweefontein B2 near KwaMhlanga in Mpumalanga has never had an ID book because she's been waiting since 2001 for her application to be processed.

As a result, she can't get married.

"My husband, who paid lobola for me, can't marry me legally because I have no ID," said Mabena.

"I've done everything that home affairs told me to do. I submitted all the necessary documents to their office, but nothing helped."

She said she re-applied for her ID book about five times last year alone, but was always told to wait as her ID book was still being processed.

She first applied for her ID book at Mkobola home affairs offices in Kwaggafontein when she was in Grade 10 in 2001.

In 2002 she re-applied at the KwaMhlanga home affairs offices.

In 2003 she did so again at KwaMhlanga.

Last year she went all the way to the to the Pretoria home affairs offices and to their offices in Cullinan.

Each time she was told it would be ready in three months. Instead, she was always given excuses ranging from there being missing information to system errors.

Besides being unable to get married in terms of civil law, she can't get a job or study further.

"I completed my matric in 2003 and wanted to study further and become a journalist, but I can't without my ID book," she said.

Mabena has a three-year-old son for whom she also can't get a birth certificate without her ID book. She earns a living by cooking and selling food on the pavement at the KwaMhlanga Crossroads shopping complex.

Home affairs spokesperson Fundo Mbende said their records show that Mabena applied for an ID book in Cullinan earlier last year, but the ID book hasn't been released yet.

KwaMhlanga home affairs manager Steven Boshego advised Mabena to revisit their office to re-apply yet again.

"I will make sure that she gets help," Boshego promised.

- African Eye