By Charmaine Boois
Mariental, Nov. 8 – A large number of people living in rural areas and isolated sections of the country do not have national documentation, which is a severe issue because they are essential.
Although more than 70 people from the rural areas in the Hardap region were able to register for identity documents with the help of Deensia Swartbooi, the councillor of the Mariental rural constituency and the ministry of home affairs, the councillor said there are still people in isolated areas like farms who do not have documents because they do not have money to go to town to register for the documents.
“This is a problem not only in Hardap but also in other regions,” she said.
Swartbooi who is spearheading this programme said she had contacted the ministry of home affairs and informed them that residents from these areas want assistance to obtain national documents.
“I made it my mission to reach out to the ministry since it is my duty to provide service to my communities; these individuals don’t have the money to pay for document duplication or the fare to travel to Mariental to register at home affairs,” Swartbooi said.
The councillor added that some people lost their identity documents in fires and other tragic incidents, and they continue to live there year after year without registering, despite the fact that they might need them for funeral arrangements for a relative, bank transactions, health care, or in situations where children need identification documents to register for their end-of-year exams.
Last Wednesday, the ministry of home affairs officials spent two days at Stampriet, issuing 17 duplicate birth certificates, and 31 identity documents, and assisting eight people with ID applications.
The home affairs officials then travelled to the community of Witkrans where3 seven people got birth certificates.
On Monday they were in Hochanas at the settlement offices where 18 proofs of registry for ID were collected and on Tuesday they will complete the final registration process for the Hochanas community.
Alterations to documents were also registered.
From there, they will return to Mariental to the head office.
The councillor expresses happiness that the task was a success but noted that there are still people who reside in other isolated areas, not just in Hardap, who need help.
“I urged other leaders to reach out to these vulnerable people and help them to register as having these documents is a necessity,” said Swartbooi.
