'Sometimes I want to die'

2008-02-05 13:08

Neville Maakana

Tzaneen - A woman who shares the same name, surname and identity number with a stranger is suicidal because she can't get a job, open a bank account or collect social grants for her three children.

Linah Mathebula, 31, was caught trying to commit suicide inside her other's house in Shipungu village near Tzaneen in Limpopo last month.

"I have done everything possible to get a valid ID book but without success. Sometimes I get so frustrated I just want to die. I can't go on living like this," she said, visibly holding back tears.

Linah said her problem started in 2003 when she successfully applied for child grants for her three children.

"When I went to collect the money, I was told that someone had already collected it. When I complained, I was told to go to Home Affairs," said the single mother.

Linah said she was shocked to learn that she was sharing the same name, surname and identity number with someone who lives in Mhluzi in Middelburg, Mpumalanga.

"I was advised to apply for another ID book," she said.

Since 2003, Linah said she has applied for a new identity book six times without success, despite submitting affidavits and letters from her primary school principal and village induna.

Linah lost hope

On one of her many visits to the department's offices in Tzaneen, she said she was told to go to Middelburg, locate her namesake and bring her to Home Affairs.

"I couldn't believe my ears," she said. "They even gave me her street address. But how can they expect me to do their work?"

Linah said she has lost hope that she would ever have a valid ID book.

She lives with three brothers who are also not working and have families of their own. The four siblings depend on their mother's old-age pension money.

"I fear that one day my daughter will kill herself because of this ID problem. She is even refusing to eat," said her 80-year-old mother Selina Mookamedi.

Acting Home Affairs provincial manager Victor Mabunda promised on Tuesday to personally investigate the matter.

"I will contact the woman as soon as possible and see how I can help her," he said.

- African Eye