A Mitchells Plain ouma is paaping as her great-grandson, a grade 12 learner, still doesn’t have an ID with just 100 days to go before the matric exams.
Great-grandmother Hester Prince, 80, from New Woodlands said the family has been trying to obtain a valid ID since the teen was 16 years old but Home Affairs keep turning them away.
The boy possesses a birth certificate but can’t register for an ID card as the family does not know where his parents are.
Ouma Hester explains: “When she (daughter) was 21, she lived with her boyfriend but not for long. Then when he returned to me, he was four years old and he was in a bad condition. And she asked me if I could look after him because she can't, she doesn't have a place to stay.
“She never came to look for him. She doesn't call him for birthdays, nothing. So he is now 19 and still in my care.
“If he is now in matric and he can't study further then he must look for a job, but then he also needs an ID.”
When he was 16 years old, officials said to return and try again when he reached 18. But when the time arrived, the family was requested to bring his parents and their documents along in order to proceed.
Hester says she has no idea where her daughter is.
However Western Cape Education Department (WCED) spokesperson Millicent Merton said the learner would be allowed to write the National Senior Certificate exams with his birth certificate.
The Department of Home Affairs did not respond to queries.