The family members of a deceased 88-year-old Galeshewe woman struggled to obtain a death certificate after it was discovered that she had been issued with two different identity document numbers.
THE FAMILY of the late Rebecca Soetmelk, 88, who resided in Phutanang, Galeshewe, struggled to obtain a death certificate after it was discovered that she had been issued with two different identity document (ID) numbers.
A family member, Sandra Soetmelk, stated that they only found out about the second ID number when they tried to obtain the death certificate at the Department of Home Affairs last week.
“Both ID documents were made out in her name although there are two different identity numbers. We were informed that head office would have to remove the one identity number before the death certificate could be issued,” said Sandra.
She added that her grandmother’s body had to be stored at the funeral parlour longer than was expected due to the delay.
“The funeral parlour indicated that they would not be able to keep the body much longer. We already made arrangements to hold the funeral this weekend but we cannot bury her without a death certificate.”
The district manager of operations at the Department of Home Affairs, Ricardo Abrams, indicated that the case was finalised and the death certificate was issued on Wednesday.
“It was only detected last week that the deceased had two ID numbers. How it occurred is currently unknown,” said Abrams.
He added that the matter was reported to head office for correction.
“The ID number on the death registration forms provided by the family was used to issue the death certificate. The process takes a few days depending on the correctness of the information. This is part of our normal service process.” Abrams stated.
