More than a month after Vukani reported on Khayelitsha resident Zukiswa Gquwa’s struggles to aquire a birth certificate for her five-year-old son, the matter has still not been resolved (“Birth certificate struggle,” Vukani, February 22).
When Vukani contacted the department at the time, Home Affairs spokesman, Thabo Mokgola, said an investigation into the matter had been instituted and that the provincial manager for Home Affairs in the Eastern Cape would delegate officials to contact Ms Gquwa to attain further information and help resolve the issue.
But Ms Gquwa contacted Vukani again recently to say that no one had contacted her yet.
When Vukani went back to Home Affairs to find out what was happening with the matter, Mr Mokgola said an official from the Western Cape department of Home Affairs had been given a mandate to resolve the matter and that Ms Gquwa had been contacted.
But, according to Ms Gquwa, Home Affairs contacted her only after our recent enquiry.
In the meantime, the 21-year-old unemployed mother said her life had been put on hold and that she could not look for a job because there would be no one to look after her son.
And, she added, she could not send her son to a creche because she was unable to cover the monthly fees.
So far, she has been getting by doing odd jobs.
“I only want my son to have a birth certificate and my life would change for the better. What if I die tomorrow? How will my son live without a birth certificate?” she asked.
