An identity document that was never delivered, which was later linked to a woman’s suicide, is under investigation, the Department of Home Affairs said on Wednesday.
”It is with the deepest regret that the department read this morning’s news reports connecting the unfortunate suicide of a young KwaZulu-Natal woman, Bongekile Mkhize, to her apparent difficulties in obtaining an ID book,” said spokesperson Jackie Mashapu.
The Star reported that Mkhize, a 24-year-old aspiring nurse, left a note in which she said she could no longer live without an ID book.
Three applications to the Home Affairs department in more than two years had failed to yield the document.
”Goodbye Thando, your mom loves you so much. I am going to rest with my father, where I will not be asked for my ID,” the note read.
Mashapu said an initial investigation showed that the South African Post Office, contracted to deliver documents, had apparently made three attempts to find Mkhize.
”They were unsuccessful on each occasion because the address provided on the application form gave neither a street name nor a house number.”
Four day’s after Mkhize suicide last month, the ID was traced to Home Affairs office in Umzumbe, south of Durban. It had been issued in January 2006, the paper said.
The document had been issued timeously and to the rightful owner, Mashapu said.
”Home Affairs is re-examining its delivery methods as part of the ongoing re-engineering process.”
Results of the assessment and any changes aimed at greater efficiency and reliability would be communicated to the public, he said.
”The department takes this opportunity to express its sympathy with Ms Mkize’s family. The loss of a young woman of promise who is also a young mother and a dutiful daughter must move us all, and we are saddened by her passing.”
Mkhize hanged herself on May 26.
Her brother Shongani told the Star that Mkize finished school in 2004 and needed an ID to apply for a job and to register to study as a nurse. – Sapa