Soshanguve resident cries over home affairs ID error
A 47 year old Soshanguve resident, Mr Patrick Khumalo, of extension 9, has been struggling to get help from Home Affairs regarding his identity number for nine years.
He allegedly shares an identity number with a KZN man who is said to be working for the department of education.
Mr Khumalo realised this in 2010 when he went to seek financial help at the bank. The bank told him that his credit limit is above his monthly income and that he owed certain amount to a car dealership as well as a retail store.
He said he has been seeking help from the department of home affairs for the past 8 years by first approaching Department of Home Affairs Soshanguve offices where he was asked to bring certain documents to re-apply for an ID document.
“I was told to come with my mother’s or a relative’s ID, letter from where I started school, birth and a baptismal certificate, I submitted the required documents but my applications were later to be declined,” explains Mr Khumalo.
This has been a tough journey for Mr Khumalo who repeatedly went to home affairs with the hope to fix this dilemma before it gets out of hand. He was also told to bring his mother or a family member to sign a consent form and declare that he is a South African citizen as home affairs suspected that this could be a case of identity theft. He did as asked and still received no help.
He then opened a criminal case in 2013 at the South African Police Services in Pretoria North to protect himself in case the police came after him for crimes and debts committed by the person he shares an identity number with. The SAPS Pretoria North took the matter and referred it to the investigative officers and detectives in Sandton. “The Sandton SAPS told Khumalo that the matter is not a criminal case but a civil case that the home affairs should resolve,” said Mr Khumalo.
Life became too hard for him when he lost his job in 2017 after he received a severance pay out from the company he used to work for. Out of all the money he received, Mr Khumalo only received a small portion of it as the other amount was deducted by the South African Revenue Services (SARS) to pay for all the penalties caused by the man he shares an identity number with.
Mr Khumalo said he tried to get answers from SARS but his actions did not bear any fruits. “I went to SARS to inquire about the large sum of money deducted from my account to pay for someone else when we have different tax numbers, they said it is because of the identity number that is similar to someone else”, he said.
He reported the matter to the Tax Ombud in Menlyn and was told to submit a letter from the department of home affairs stating that the identity number is issued under his name and without such a letter, they could not help him.
He went back to home affairs and requested that while they sort out his ID problem, they must at least give him the letter required by Tax Ombud in order for him to get his money because he has a family to care for financially since he lost his job. Home Affairs declined his request.
Like any worried and determined man, he continued his quest for help at the Home Affairs offices in October 2017. He was told to re-apply for ID using the old method which detects fingerprints.
“After applying, they told me to come check the progress of my application in January 2018. I went to check as instructed and I was told the matter is finalised. I was happy and thought that finally the issue is resolved. Later that day I received an SMS saying that my application has been declined”, said Mr Khumalo.
The Tax Ombud then had to cancel his case because he failed to deliver the letter home affairs denied him.
He says this has been a painful exercise because he later lost his mother and brother and now has no one to sign consent forms and declare that he is a South African citizen.
He went to the home affairs head office in Bosman and was required the same documents. He was also told that in order to resolve the whole confusion, home affairs will have to create a new identity number for him.
However, he is not happy about this. “If they create a new identity number for me, that means I will not get my money back from SARS. I am suffering financially and I am scared this matter might escalate. What if that man I share an ID with dies? What will become of me?” concluded Mr Khumalo.
After all the trouble Khumalo went through, home affairs department still gives him the run-arounds. SARS investigated the matter and found that home affairs department issued the same identity number to two different people at separate dates. According to the findings of SARS, Mr Khumalo’s ID differs to that of KZN man on the ID photo and the date issued. Home Affairs issued the identity number for the first time on the 02nd of February 1994 to a KZN-based man and issued the same identity number for the second time on the 23rd of March 1994 to Mr Khumalo in Soshanguve.
We tried to get hold of the home affairs department via the minister’s office for a comment on how they can assist Mr Khumalo and resolve the matter, unfortunately they never got back to us at the time of publishing.
