Young man denied university entrance as home affairs fumbles about
The saga has been ongoing for more than a year
A Windmill Park man says his son has, since 2016, been battling to get an identity document from the Department of Home Affairs because of an apparent fingerprint problem.
Mofiti Maphake, who hails from Burgersfort, Limpopo, says his son, Kgotlelelo, passed matric with flying colours and wanted to study electrical engineering, but universities declined his applications because he doesn’t have a valid ID.
Maphake and Kgotlelelo, who has a birth certificate, visited home affairs in the Boksburg CBD in December 2016 and applied for Kgotlelelo’s ID.
More than a year later, the father is still struggling to get his son’s ID.
He says he and his son have, on numerous occasions, visited the home affairs offices to enquire about the ID, but officials have been giving them the runaround.
“The first time we went there to check the ID, an official checked and discovered that an error had occurred. The official told us that there was a problem with Kgotlelelo’s fingerprints and promised it would be fixed soon.
“We went there again and found that the problem was still not fixed and we tried to reapply, but the application was rejected – apparently because of the first application, which is already on the system.
“They said they were busy trying to overwrite the first application, but to date nothing has happened. Whenever we go there the computer still reflects the same error. I cannot understand why it’s taking them this long to rectify the mistake,” said Maphake.
Maphake again went to the home affairs offices in Boksburg in December and January 24 and 26, only to find that the problem still hadn’t been fixed. He also went to home affairs in Pretoria on January 19 but was met with the same issue.
“My son and I are very upset because home affairs is trampling on his future. I want to give my son a better future before I go on pension,” said Maphake.
This publication is still awaiting comment from the Department of Home Affairs. -@FanieFLK
Follow us:
