"Home Affairs has turned my life into a nightmare and I no longer have hope that they will be able to assist me." This is the disappointed opinion of Elelwani Mukwevho (26) who has been battling to change her surname from Mukwevho to Ravhura since 2004, without success.

"I have a diploma in auditing, but I cannot find a job because of this problem. How much more must I suffer because of someone who is not competent? I have followed all the channels for changing one’s surname and I have provided the required documentation, but my problem remains unsolved. I am now tired of traveling to their offices at Makwerala and I am only waiting for a miracle to happen," says the desperate Elelwani, who stays at Haluvhimbi village, north of Thohoyandou.

Elelwani says her troubles started when she applied for a surname change in April 2004. "I went to their offices and paid R260, hoping that my application would be processed. I became suspicious when I went back to check but my new ID was not there. I provided all the supporting documents, but things never went right. I went there several times and at another time I was issued with a letter to prove that I had applied for a surname change, which I would use when I applied for a job. But the letter did not serve its purpose because prospective employers need the real ID."

Elelwani says she went to Home Affairs again in June last year, to make another application. "When I went to check in November, they told me that my application was being processed. I went there again in December and they said I owed R260. How can I owe them R260 because I had already paid when I made my initial application? I went there again in January this year, but the confusion was never cleared up."

Elelwani says she was disappointed by the behavior some of the staff members at Makwarela Home Affairs who verbally abused her whenever she visited the office. "They kept on scolding me for no apparent reason and at one time, I was told that my problem would never be solved because I am talkative. I will follow the correct channels and lodge a formal complaint until they are punished. I will write a complaint letter to their superiors because they deserve to be subjected to the strongest disciplinary action. They are there to serve us, not to confuse us by destroying our future."

Home Affairs’s Vhembe Regional Manager, Mr Mmboneni Mphigalale, said he was personally assisting Elelwani to have her surname changed to Ravhura. "I am aware of her problem but I will do everything possible to help her." About the alleged abusive employees, Mphigalale said: "I will wait for Elelwani to lodge a formal complaint so that we can start with investigations. It will be easier for us to take action if she were to identify them."