14 August 2024
Mqokeleli Sigwintshi says Home Affairs keeps refusing to register the birth of his son without the presence of his son’s mother, who has disappeared. Photo: Phumeza Halonisi
For the past eight years, Mqokeleli Sigwintshi has been trying to get a birth certificate from the Department of Home Affairs for his son, who is now nine years old.
Sigwintshi said in 2015, his wife, with whom he had a traditional marriage, gave birth to their son at the Willowvale Health Centre.
A year later, his wife visited her family in Mthatha.
He said a month after she left, he received a call from a man who told him to come fetch his son in Mthatha, where his wife had left him.
He said he travelled there as soon as he could. When he got there, the man directed him to a shebeen.
“When I got to the shebeen, I found my son playing outside. He was only wearing a nappy, no clothes,” said Sigwintshi. At the time the child was only one year and a few months old.
“I was very shocked and angry at the same time to find my son in that manner. I didn’t even know if he had eaten or not. Inside the shebeen there was a woman. She was the one who was looking after my son. I suspect the man who called me was her husband. It is clear they got my number from my wife,” said Sigwintshi.
He said the woman gave him his son’s clinic card, and he had been taking care of his son ever since, but has been unable to obtain a birth certificate.
He said each time when he visited the Department of Home Affairs, officials told him to go look for the mother of his son.
“I don’t know how many times I visited Home Affairs in East London since 2016. My son is using my surname, the clinic card has my surname because we thought it was going to be easy when he uses my surname since his mother didn’t have an ID. I’ve given the officials many affidavits, letters from social workers including letters from our Chief but still I’m not being assisted.”
He said at one time officials said he needed to get a DNA test to prove he was the child’s father. He did so in 2019 and the results stated there was a 99.9% certainty he is the father.
He has been living in Kraaifontein, Cape Town, since 2021, and the last time he went to Home Affairs in East London was in 2023. “Even after I gave them everything, they still said that I need to find my wife so she can be the one doing the birth certificate for our son.” He was told that as a man, he was not able to obtain the birth certificate. “I gave them everything they requested but still they have not helped me.”
Although his son is nine-years-old, and is now being cared for by Sigwintshi’s brother in Willowvale, and has been unable to attend school because the schools demand a birth certificate before they will admit him.
“This is not fair to my son. My boy wants to go to school like other children,” said Sigwintshi.
When contacted on 30 July, Department of Home Affairs spokesperson David Hlabane said the matter is being investigated, and asked for Sigwintshi’s contact details, which GroundUp provided after obtaining Sigwintshi’s permission to do so.
On 13 August, Sigwintshi said he has since received a temporary birth certificate for his son, who on 12 August was able to start school in Willowvale.
Eastern Cape Education Department spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said children could not be denied schooling because they do not have a birth certificate.
“As the department we will investigate the matter and check what went wrong,” said Mtima.