ID boob changes man's sex

By Nomangasi Mbiza

A 33-year-old Philippi resident lost out on a job, has been unable to open a bank account and has even had to get a doctor to prove that he is a man after the department of home affairs issued him with female identity number.

"I went to a doctor in 2007 to get a note to prove that I am a man. I had the embarrassment of my life when I was checked by a female doctor," said Delisile Bululu, of Samora Machel.

Bululu first realised there was a problem with his ID in 2006, a year after receiving it, when he got his first job in Johannesburg and was told to open a bank account.

When he went to the department of home affairs and asked them to correct the error, he was told to get a doctor's certificate to prove he was a man.

"Everyone with a sound mind can see I am a man. I didn't understand why I had to be checked by a doctor," he said.

He claims he was was also assaulted by police in Johannesburg, who thought he had stolen the identity document.

Bululu then moved to Cape Town, where he landed another job.

"I still couldn't open a bank account so I had to ask my cousin to open one," he said.

"Last year, I lost the bank card while I was on holiday in the Eastern Cape and I couldn't get my money because my cousin was in Cape Town,' he said.

Bululu then went to the Cape Town offices of the department of home affairs, where he was again told to get a certificate from a doctor before his ID number could be corrected. He complied, but is still waiting on a new identity document.

He recently inquired at the Nyanga Department of Home Affairs and was told that his ID had not yet arrived.

"I have to wait, but how much longer will I have to suffer like this?" he asked.

Bululu said he even missed out on an opportunity to work in Angola. "They had to take someone else because of my lack of an ID," he said.

The supervisor of Civic Services at the Nyanga Home Affairs office, Boy Bonani, confirmed that Bululu had registered for a new identity document at the Cape Town department of home affairs and that his application had been processed.

Bululu's new ID book would be available shortly, he said.

Bonani said that since the female identity document number had already been registered in the South African Population data they first had to delete it.

"Only then could he be allocated another number," said Bonani.

He said it usually took time to do this but the department had installed a new system to speed up the process.

nomangesi.mbiza@inl.co.za