HER mum died when she was four years old.
Now, Wandiswa Mbambezeli (38) has no ID, no job and no money. Her life has been a roller coaster.
Raised by relatives in East London, Eastern Cape, Wandiswa said her guardians made her work on farms.
She claims they never allowed her to go to school. Wandiswa came to Joburg in 1999. And when she was told the only way to survive was to become a prostitute, she fled to Rustenburg, where she found work for a few years on a farm.
Now unemployed, with three kids, she lives near the Congo squatter camp and is desperately hoping to get papers for herself and her children. One child has been refused entry to high school because she has no birth certificate.
Wandiswa said the local Home Affairs offices told her to go to the Eastern Cape and apply there. But Wandiswa said she left without saying goodbye and does not believe her relatives are still alive.
Moreover, she does not have the money to travel there. She doesn’t even have money to take her second daughter for treatment at the hospital for a burn wound on the shoulder. Wandiswa said she survives on hand-outs.
Home Affairs spokesman Thabo Makgola said the law requires the department to satisfy itself that the applicant is who she claims to be.
He added that there needs to be a thorough investigation to determine the truth of the claims.
“A background check, which includes verifying with family members, needs to be conducted,” he said.
“It is important that the department interacts with various role players in the area of her birth.”
