I can't verify my identity to Home Affairs or SASSA because I don't look the same and my fingerprints have faded.

The long answer

To take the problem of proving to SASSA that you are the legal owner of your ID first: Generally, you would need to take whatever proof you have that it is your ID (like birth certificate, passport, baptismal certificates, school reports, clinic cards) to make a sworn affidavit on a form provided by SASSA. 

If someone else is using your ID to draw a pension, you can phone the national anti-corruption hotline – 0800 701 701. SASSA also has a grants and fraud hotline at 0800 601 011. 

Presumably SASSA is already investigating this, but it should not take six months to find out what has happened.

In terms of the photo in your green book not matching your current photo – is this simply that you are older now or is Home Affairs saying that this is a different person?  

Perhaps the best advice is to take this problem to the Black Sash, which is an organisation that gives free paralegal advice and has many years of experience of both SASSA and Home Affairs.

These are their contact details:

Email: help@blacksash.org.za

Helpline: 072 66 33 73, 072 633 3739 or 063 610 1865.

In terms of your fingerprints no longer printing, this is a common problem with older people, and is to do with skin becoming thinner and the ridges on one’s fingers not being as pronounced as before. Many older people have difficulty with using biometric technology for this reason.

Some internet sources advise using oils like olive oil and shea butter to moisturise your hands two or three times a day for several days before going to have your fingerprints taken. They also speak of “ridge enhancers” helping to make the fingers print, but I don’t think such ridge enhancers are available in South Africa.

The fact is though, that losing your fingerprints should not mean that you lose your basic rights as a citizen, one of which is to be able to have a working ID. 

I had the same problem with fingerprints not working when I applied for my smart ID some years ago. I asked for the problem to be addressed by more senior staff as the staff on duty said they could not do anything. I waited in line for almost a day to see a more senior person – nothing happened – and then to my own surprise and horror, I burst into tears, and this seemed to galvanise the staff into taking action: if I remember correctly, old-style camera photographs of my fingers were taken and then photocopied. This seemed to work, and I was able to pick up the smart ID within a few days. I think the lesson I drew from it was that you have to make a fuss with Home Affairs and insist on your rights and ask them to escalate your problem to a more senior person if the ordinary staff say they can’t do anything. 

The problem in your case though, is that Home Affairs will not give you a smart ID until the theft of your ID number has been resolved. It may be worth making a sworn affidavit, giving all the details, dates and names together with certified copies of your ID and birth certificate, and send this with a letter to the new Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber, explaining that you have been waiting since February for the problem to be resolved. Leon Schreiber has said that he is determined to make Home Affairs, which has been chaotic and dysfunctional for years, work efficiently and serve the country’s citizens. 

Wishing you the best,
Athalie