Cape Town – Many young people have their futures distorted in South Africa due to poor service delivery in most government departments.
In this context, I am raising an issue and a big concern about the Home Affairs Department regarding the Late Registration of Birth service (LRB).
The process is very slow and is failing many young South Africans.
As a responsible citizen, during the whole of 2019 I tried to help a young man, then aged 18, get his birth certificate, with no success.
He is now 19. This young man says his mother died in 2016 and she never disclosed anything about his birth certificate before she passed on.
As a result he is now struggling to apply for his ID. He does not know the whereabouts of his father and he has never met him.
He was born on March 26, 2001, in Johannesburg.
He is now living with his uncle in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. He is a brilliant, mannered and disciplined child who is desperate and determined to make a brighter future for himself.
He certainly does not want his mother’s death to shape his future in a negative way. He is hopeful and very optimistic about his future and life in general. He passed his matric last year at Luhlaza High School in Khayelitsha.
However, this young man is now at home doing nothing because he could not be accepted by any tertiary institutions due to his lack of an ID and a birth certificate.
He can’t even look for a job due to the absence of this very important document in his life.
One could imagine the feeling of not having an ID, even a birth certificate for that matter.
It would be sad to have this young man’s future distorted because of this.
Unfortunately, his mother is not alive to answer to this situation, but he certainly deserves an identity document like all of us.
It is his human right.
We have been engaging with the Home Affairs office based in Khayelitsha, where he applied for his birth certificate on January 15 last year.
We have made numerous follow-ups.
Home Affairs officers kept on telling us there are many other cases like his some applied in 2017 and have not been helped until now.
They are still waiting for the interview dates from Home Affairs.
From our side we have managed to get his proof of maternity from where he was born, and we thought that would help in fast-tracking the process.
Why must the Late Registration of Birth process take so long?
Why can’t the department hire more personnel to conduct interviews in this regard, or find other innovative strategies to fast-track the process so that no child could have his or her future compromised or distorted in South Africa due to lack of a birth certificate or an ID?
The Home Affairs Department must do justice for this young man and for many others who have been waiting a long time.
An ID is very important: it forms part of their identity as citizens.
I repeat, it is his human right.
I will really appreciate the co-operation of the department in this regard, so that this young man can continue with his endeavours of success.
Editor: The Department of Home Affairs was approached for comment on May 7 and has failed to respond.