Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma

Home affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will send a delegation to the department’s Pinetown offices, to investigate the suicide of a man whose ID application was torn up by an official.

“We want to determine the identity of the official who handled the application. A course of action will be recommended once we understand the circumstances,” spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said.

It’s understood Skhumbuzo Mhlongo, who was born in 1987, and did not seem to have parents, had been trying to get an ID. Obtaining an ID without a birth certificate requires late registration and involves drawing on statements from people who say they know the applicant, as well as an interview with the people and the applicant by the department.

The home affairs official who was conducting the interview, its understood, was not satisfied with the information and then said “this Mhlongo was lying” and tore the papers and threw them at him,  saying he was a foreigner.

It’s also believed Mhlongo was to start a job and was instructed to produce his ID, or else the job would be given to someone else.

“The minister is determined to ensure that no stone is left unturned in this matter. The public has a right to service delivery of high quality … without having to resort to such drastic action as suicide to make their voices heard,” Mamoepa said.

He said Dlamini-Zuma also established a hotline number — 0800-2044-76 — in her office to enable members of the public to register their complaints. The number would be operational every day of the week and has voice recording facilities for the public to leave voice messages.

The delegation will visit Pinetown on September 1. — Sapa