By Mike Smith
5th of March 2016
Here is an article of a Portuguese Attorney in South Africa who has been waiting 13 years for her unabridged marriage certificate so she could apply for Portuguese citizenship for her three children. She has now turned to the courts and media out of desperation.
13 year fight for marriage papers
One of my best mates is an English speaking (former liberal) South African. He got married in Cape Town two years ago and is still waiting for his unabridged marriage certificate from Home Affairs. He said to me last night, “You know Mike…I will be honest with you. During the 1980’s I didn’t have much time for the Apartheid government. In fact I didn’t like Afrikaans people at all. The Afrikaans people at government institutions always came over as dumb illiterate Dutchmen. “Stasieblompotte” and “Rock spiders” in Safari suits. But I tell you…they were nothing compared to these Kaffirs we have in charge there today.”
Tja…Dealing with Home Affairs is enough to drive any person insane and turn any liberal into an out and out racist.
No wonder in 2005 Kabelo Thibedi took a supervisor hostage with a toy gun at Home Affairs in Pretoria and held them up in a six hour drama. After nine applications and a three-year wait he still didn’t have his ID. He was fired from his job as a lab assistant for not having an ID. Without it you cannot work, you cannot open a bank account, you cannot start a business, nothing. Today he runs the Kabelo Thibedi Identity Document Services and Information Centre in Soweto, helping others in their struggle with Home Affairs.
I suppose I shouldn’t complain too much then. I just managed to get an unabridged birth certificate out of them after only One Year and two applications…Wow. I consider myself as one of the lucky ones.