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Matric pupil finally gets his ID document

Source: Natal Mercury, 09/11/2018

Durban - The Pietermaritzburg matric pupil who waited seven months for
his smart ID from the Department of Home Affairs was finally issued
with it on Saturday morning.
The pupil, who cannot be named because he is a minor, tried to hang
himself this month after he was told he could not sit for his final
examinations without an identity document.
After The Mercury reported on the pupil`s ordeal, a Home Affairs civic
services manager contacted the family in an attempt to get to the
bottom of the ID delay.
The 17-year-old boy, who was orphaned when he was two years old, tried
to hang himself in a field near his Pietermaritzburg home.
In a suicide note, which he left for his family, he blamed Home
Affairs for putting him through immense stress. He had written: â€œHow
can these Home Affairs people be so bad? How can they treat an orphan
like this? Maybe if I am not here, you guys will be better off.â€
His aunt, who also cannot be named, to protect the identity of the
child, said the family celebrated after receiving the ID - something
that had caused them a lot of stress this year.
â€œIt was as if our whole lives were dedicated to getting this child`s
ID. Finally we can rest, knowing that everything is sorted and it is
really thanks to the media who assisted and intervened,â€ she said.
She said that after liaising with the civic services manager, she was
thrilled to receive an SMS informing her the ID was ready for collection.
â€œI am so grateful to all those who assisted us and grateful to the
media for exposing horrible public servants. Even through his ordeal,
my nephew studied and now he is writing the examinations he never
thought he would be able to write,â€ she said.

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