NOPINKI Lungile said she nearly killed herself because of the lack of an ID.
The 28-year-old mum of two from Motherwell in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape has been struggling to get her identity for years.
“Life without an ID is meaningless. My late gogo, who looked after me since my mum died in 1992, tried to help me to apply for an ID since 2007, but with no luck. Home Affairs officials turned me away several times.
“They demanded my mum’s ID, but it was burned in a shack together with her death certificate,” said Nopinki.
“I went to the hospital and mortuary, trying to find my mum’s documents, but with no luck. Things became worse when my gogo died in 2013.
“I decided to kill myself because life became meaningless. When I was about to hang myself with rope, my daughter, who was three at the time, cried when she saw what I was about to do. I could not do it, for the sake of my child.”
She said that she had lost hope of ever getting an ID.
“My kids do not even get grants because they do not have birth certificates.”
When the SunTeam called the home affairs manager, he rejected the calls.
Then when they called again yesterday morning, he said he was busy in a meeting.