Chairperson, in a constituency with 19 schools with roughly 16 000 learners they are about two hundred learners who do have birth certificates and most of these children are South Africans. Thousands of children who have been treated like nobody do not enjoy education because they undocumented and have thus placed a burden on teachers. No south African child should have to leave hospital without a birth certificate.
Therefore, the department of home affairs must move fast to ensure that labour wards have in house officials. The issue of insufficient capacity, must be addressed immediately. Last week, hundreds of people were turned away at the Isipingo home affairs as it can only serve 80 people per day. This shows that there is no innovation and appetite to serve. The ANC government is failing venerable citizens of this country. Nomvula Mtshali from Standerton in Mpumalanga was left with her father as infant and has been waiting for 31 years for a birth certificate. This government is talking about a new dream yet Nomvula's quest for a simple birth certificate seemingly remains just that a dream. Despite anecdotal evidence a referral letter from social department a certificate from church and her father's death certificate, Nomvula still remains without her birth certificate for more than 31 years.
I emailed this information to the DBG Mr Thomas Gama on the 28 of March 2019. Up until today I have not received a response. If I a Member of Parliament mandated to conduct an oversight cannot get proper service from this department, how can we expect ordinary citizens of this country to access that service? Today chairperson, many South African women are married to husbands they have never met.
These women are struggling to find identity, are denied an opportunity to find work because some of their so called husbands are blacklisted. It took the ANC government 14 years to get Ms Nomathamsanqa Booi fake marriage cancelled. She further discovered that they were two children she did not know, registered in her name. Following her meeting with Minister Motsoledi, he committed to have her issued with her smart card ID within 48 hours. We congratulate you Ms Booi for finally being liberated for waiting after 14 years. The big question remains, what were the reasons and criteria used by the Minister to commit to issuing Ms Booi with a smart card ID within 48 hours?
When we as a portfolio committee were informed that they are 906 remaining cases of victims who have not been assisted. If the Minister is serious about this corruption, whereby ID copies and signatures are fraudulently submitted as in Ms Booi's case, it is enough reason to accelerate the issuing of smart card ID's to the aforementioned cases. If he fails to do this, these women just like Ms Booi will have to wait for a further 14 years if not forever. Government needs to act at a pace of a bullet train in ensuring that all South African women are properly documented and enjoy equal benefits of being citizens of this beautiful country.
Chairperson, the government fails to conduct oversight and members of the community continue to suffer at the hands of officials who manage those offices like they are running their tuck-shop. On the 18 of June I received a call in Govan Bheki municipality recent, that their home affairs offices were locked at eleven o'clock. When I contacted one of the office managers, he further advised and further confirmed also that the officials who had the office keys was on leave and they were waiting for him to bring the keys, driving from Bethal to Secunda which is more than 60 kilometres away. I urge the Minister to investigate this matter and address it accordingly, it is only and only the DA government that will ensure that South African citizens, young and old are properly documented. I thank you.