South Africa: No school, no job and no income without an ID
Published: 16/Nov/2017
Source: Independent Online (South Africa)
By Bongani Nkosi
AT 17, Pule Mahluza knows too well he is facing a doomed future and a life in perpetual limbo without an identity document.
The teenager from Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, has never had a birth certificate, a situation that makes it difficult for him to get an ID document from Home Affairs.
Pule relates the story told by his father, Martin Mawela, 65, about why he does not have a birth certificate.
His mother, who died three years ago, never went to Home Affairs to register him after giving birth at the Ga-Rankuwa Hospital, he says. The facility was renamed George Mukhari Hospital in 2003.
“My mother should have done the right thing from the start,” Pule laments. “Now she’s no longer around to help me sort this out.”
Read further: https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/no-school-no-job-and-no-income-without-an-id-12028126