Mqokeleli Sigwintshi says Home Affairs keeps refusing to register the birth of his son without the presence of his son’s mother, who has disappeared. (Phumeza Halonisi/GroundUp)

• Mqokeleli Sigwintshi says his wife abandoned his son eight years ago.
• The couple had not registered their son’s birth because she did not have an ID at the time.
• Despite numerous attempts to register his son’s birth, the 9-year-old boy was not issued with a birth certificate and was unable to register at a school.

For the past eight years, Mqokeleli Sigwintshi has been trying to get a birth certificate from the Department of Home Affairs for his  now-9-year-old son. 

In 2015, his wife, with whom he had a traditional marriage, gave birth to their son at the Willowvale Health Centre, GroundUp reported.

A year later, she visited her family in Mthatha and a month after she left, he received a call from a man who told him to fetch his son in Mthatha, where his wife had left him.

He travelled there as soon as he could and when he got there, the man directed him to a shebeen.

“When I got to the shebeen, I found my son playing outside. He was only wearing a nappy, no clothes,” said Sigwintshi. At the time the child was only one year and a few months old.

“I was very shocked and angry at the same time to find my son in that manner. I didn’t even know if he had eaten or not. Inside the shebeen there was a woman. She was the one who was looking after my son. I suspect the man who called me was her husband. It is clear they got my number from my wife,” said Sigwintshi.

He said the woman gave him his son’s clinic card.

He has been taking care of his son ever since, but hasn’t been able to obtain a birth certificate.

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Each time he visited the Department of Home Affairs, officials told him to find the child’s mother.

“I don’t know how many times I visited Home Affairs in East London since 2016. My son is using my surname, the clinic card has my surname because we thought it was going to be easy when he uses my surname since his mother didn’t have an ID. I’ve given the officials many affidavits, letters from social workers including letters from our chief, but still I’m not being assisted.”

At a stage, officials said he needed to get a DNA test to prove he was the child’s father. He did so in 2019 and the results stated there was a 99.9% certainty he was the father.

He has been living in Kraaifontein, Cape Town, since 2021, and the last time he went to Home Affairs in East London was in 2023. 

“Even after I gave them everything, they still said that I need to find my wife so she can be the one doing the birth certificate for our son.” 

He was told that as a man, he was not able to obtain the birth certificate:

Although his son is 9 years old, and is now being cared for by Sigwintshi’s brother in Willowvale, he hasn’t been able to attend school without a birth certificate.

“This is not fair to my son. My boy wants to go to school like other children,” said Sigwintshi.

When contacted on 30 July, Department of Home Affairs spokesperson David Hlabane said the matter was being investigated, and asked for Sigwintshi’s contact details, which GroundUp provided with Sigwintshi’s consent.

On 13 August, Sigwintshi said he had since received a temporary birth certificate for his son, who was able to start school in Willowvale on 12 August.

Eastern Cape education department spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said children could not be denied schooling because they do not have birth certificates.

“As the department, we will investigate the matter and check what went wrong,” said Mtima.