Roshila Pillay Joseph Mashiloae always knew he was a man – until he tried obtaining proper banking facilities. He has been turned down by five different banks on the grounds that he is posing as a female. The reason for his rejection is simple – Mashiloae’s identity document classifies him incorrectly as a female. Seven years ago Mashiloae’s first identity document was issued at the home affairs branch in Groblersdal. When he attended a student conference in 1997, Mashiloae lost the document. Copies of it show that the 28- year-old has been categorised as a female all along. The document was reissued using the same number. When the Mail & Guardian contacted the regional home affairs branch in Pretoria, where he has applied to change his incorrect sex status, an official said he is “still appearing as a female”. “If he wants to change the sex he has to complete [three] forms and provide a letter from the doctor to prove he is a male,” says home affairs official Jacob Raphatlelo. Mashiloae has complied with all these requirements and in addition supplied an affidavit to confirm his status. The official added that the delay could be attributed to the lengthy process. Mashiloae has been attempting to have his unfortunate situation resolved since 1998. One department branch told him he would have to pay R96 and provide it with a doctor’s certificate stating his sex before he could obtain a new identity document. Another said it would require the necessary forms, his birth certificate and an affidavit before it could assist him. Mashiloae complied with all requirements only to find out that the department would not accept an affidavit but had its own commissioner of oaths to decide on the matter.
A field marketer for Beacon Sweets, Mashiloae cannot even deposit his salary cheque. The wait continues as he battles to get the department to rectify its mistake. “I did not say I was a female – I know I’m a male,” he says.
Mashiloae is not alone in having received the wrong sexual classification from home affairs.
The M&G published an article this year (” ‘She’s a man,’ says home affairs”, February 25 to March 2) about a woman who was instructed by the Department of Home Affairs to have her sex certified by a district surgeon after she complained that the department changed her gender on her identity document. People who have to deal with the consequences of such errors face a multitude of problems. Getting a credit card is just one of them. Try driving around with a licence that states incorrectly that you are a female. “It’s affecting my life – I have to take a driver’s licence test but I can’t take it. They are going to use the very same number and categorise me as a female. Then I will be arrested when I am driving around. “My colleague has the same problem,” Mashiloae says, “and he was arrested.”