FAMILY IS TOO POOR FOR PINS

MADLANGEMPISI – A birth certificate is no longer just a piece of paper but a necessity which is very important in accessing a range of government services, including health.

However, an 80-year-old woman, who spends the whole day making E10 grass mats has no means of acquiring birth certificates for two of her eight grandchildren.

Tesulelo Simelane lives with the grandchildren in a house, thanks to World Vision for funding the construction of the house.
The two grandchildren without the birth certificates are doing Grade II at one of the nearby schools.

Though the children are allowed to be in school, authorities there are losing patience as this means the children do not have personal identification numbers (PINs).

Essential

PINs are essential for the Free Primary Education (FPE) as it is through these that government is able to determine how many children are being assisted.
Simelane said she did not have the money to travel to Manzini for the purpose of ensuring that her grandchildren acquire the birth certificates.

She is also living with a disability as she uses a wheelchair to move around.
Simelane said she feared that soon, her grandchildren may be forced to drop out of school because of lack of birth certificates.

Sickly

When asked about the whereabouts of the children’s parents, the elderly woman said the children’s mother was sickly and not able to travel, while she did not know where their father was.
In the past, Home Affairs had an initiative to register births at Tinkhundla centres but this was discontinued sometime ago as there were concerns that there was need for more training.

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