LIFE is a living hell for the Chauke family from Mogoto Village, outside Lebowakgomo in Limpopo.
The nine family members are without identity documents and birth certificates.
They live in a corrugated iron shack and are all unemployed.
Emily Chauke (64) said she was working on the farms at Plankwater, Ga-Setholoane where she stayed with her children.
She was then retrenched and she moved to Mogoto Village, in Zebediela.
The emotional Emily said life is hard for her as she cannot provide for her family.
“I am too old and unable to find employment. We are sleeping on the floor because I cannot apply for an RDP house or social grant because I don’t have an ID.”
She said even when she lived at the farms she stayed in a tin house and her children never went to school.
“This has also affected my grandchildren as they also don’t have birth certificates.
So they also cannot go to school. It is a struggle to feed them without a social grant. If I could at least have an ID then our lives would change for the better. I would be able to provide for my family.”
Regina Kekana (40) from Bophelong Daycare Project said she met the family by chance while doing community work.
“We visit them on Wednesdays and Fridays to make sure they have something to eat. We also bring them food parcels and clothes.” She added that the family would welcome any help.
Thabo Mokgola, spokesman for Home Affairs, said gogo Emily needs to provide the required documents for her application for a late registration of birth.
“The department has to be satisfied that whoever is granted citizenship is genuinely who they claim to be.”
