WHILE she was still at school she wanted to go to university to study teaching.
But that dream was shattered right in front of her eyes because she can’t get an ID.
Her birth certificate says she’s a male.
She is now working in other people’s homes, something she never dreamt she’d have to do.
Nelisiwe Gazu (23) from Nongoma, north of KZN, told Daily Sun that she has been to Home Affairs to apply for the ID since 2012 without success.
“My mother applied for my birth certificate and it was issued, but I was classified as a boy. She didn’t try to sort out the matter until 2012 when I asked her to help me to get an ID,” said Nelisiwe.
She was forced to use the certificate to write her matric.
But now she has the problem of gaining admission to further her studies.
“I went to Home Affairs in Nongoma in 2012 and I was told to apply for a new birth certificate. They said the old one would be deleted.
“Since then I have been to Home Affairs offices to check if it has been deleted but it hasn’t. I’m told I can’t apply for a new ID document if the old certificate has not been deleted.
“I don’t know where the problem lies. Even officials at Home Affairs don’t seem to know what the problem is.
“All I want is the correct ID to make my dreams of becoming a teacher real,” said Nelisiwe.
Home Affairs spokesman Thabo Mokgola told Daily Sun that it takes less than three months to delete a document.
“I suspect officials at the office that Nelisiwe visited did not apply for her old certificate to be deleted. It cannot take years for the certificate to be deleted,” said Mokgola. He said the department would make sure she was helped.
