Mpho Mukosi
With the aim of helping those who have been struggling to get their citizenship papers, Layton Mabalane, a local man from Ha-Matsika, has left his job in order to help those who are struggling to get their personal documents sorted.
In 2017, Mabalane decided to start a foundation called the Limpopo Show Foundation after he saw the number of people who were living without their ID books, mothers struggling to get their new-born baby’s birth certificates, and those who would pass away and struggled to get buried since they had no identities.
‘’I used to work in a Johannesburg Builders Warehouse, where I was helping people to apply for jobs before I started my foundation, until I realised that the majority of people who came to apply or look for jobs did not have all the needed documents. I sat down and realised that there are a lot of people who do not have their IDs. From there, I decided to leave my job and come back home to help community members apply for identity documents," said Mabalane.
‘’Since I did not know who would want my help, I then created a poster and asked people to share it on their social media platforms, knowing that someone who needed my help would see it and reach out to me. After the poster was shared, I then started to receive calls from different people asking for my assistance,’’ he explained.
On August 5, 2021, Layton asked for assistance in an issue where a three-month-old baby from Matsika needed an operation after she had a big tumour growing behind her head. He managed to get help, and the baby had a successful operation.
‘’I am about to reach 60 years old soon, and 'till this day, I still do not have an ID, and what saddens me is the fact that I have kids, and none of them uses my surname; they are using their mothers, which I do not understand because I am a South African citizen. Now imagine what will happen if I die and how I will be buried,’’ said a source, who is also struggling to obtain their documents.
The Limpopo Show Foundation, together with SABC 2 Zwamaramani, spent the whole of December helping people without their ID books and birth certificates.
‘’We are also trying to get hold of the Minister of Home Affairs to address a situation that has been happening in many home affairs offices based in rural areas: workers in the office fail to assist people; you find one person going there for days or a week without getting any assistance, which is not fair since people use money to travel there,’’ said Mabalane.
He also added that the foundation had sent several emails to President Cyril Ramaphosa, but nothing has been done to solve the issue.
Layton would also appreciate a donation in order to help more people who are facing the same situation since he sometimes struggles with finances due to not having any sponsors.
For those who would love to help, they can call him at 082 221 5021 or send him an email at limpoposhow7@gmail.com.
The Star