He dreams of becoming an accountant, but his dream may never become a reality, thanks to the Department of Home Affairs which has been dragging its feet to rectify a mistake and issue him with a new ID book.

Elia Mutavhatsindi (20) of Mangilasi Village in Limpopo is lately referring to this department as Horror Affairs. His ordeal started when he applied for an ID book three years ago. After the first application, he was told that his ID particulars had already been issued to someone in Germiston in the Gauteng area, which meant that he was sharing the same ID number with someone else. “I was very confused as I thought that I did not share a name and surname with anybody, but was relieved when they promised to rectify it in no time,” he said. They also promised to investigate how it could have happened that he shares an ID number with somebody else.

According to Elia, he was given a reference number and told that he had to go back and seek a confirmation letter from the village chief and a school principal to prove that he was a resident of Mangilasi Village, which he did. He also had to re-apply for an ID document at Vuwani Home Affairs.

Elia passed Grade 12 three years ago at Tshipakoni Secondary School. He wanted to pursue a career in economics, but the colleges he applied to refused to register him, because of the ID problem. Mutavhatsindi said he wanted to get a driver’s licence which would help him secure em-ployment, but here he once again could go no further because of his not having an ID book. “I am lost; I do not even know what to do. I am rendered useless and the future looks bleak for me,” he said. “I phoned Home Affairs at Thohoyandou and a certain Mr Mphigalale promised to look into my problem and said I should phone him next week. I am just waiting for a miracle to happen that my life can go back to normal.”

Limpopo Home Affairs spokesperson Mr Sam Moremi said they were busy working on Mutavhatsindi’s case and promised a speedy solution to the problem. “Mutavhatsindi should just wait patiently as we promised to give priority to his case. Our staff members are busy with his case and he should know that he is not the only person experiencing the same problem. We are experiencing an influx of these types of problems and we are working on them,” he said.