When Mthobisi Simelane, 7, arrived at Mosvold Hospital in Ingwavuma in the far north west of KwaZulu-Natal, health workers thought he was mentally disabled.

“He could barely speak, and he was very withdrawn,” said Dr Ann Barnard. “He had neglected and had a terrible snake bite on his leg.”

Once his snake bite had healed, however, Simelane’€™s uncle never came back to fetch him as he said he did not want an albino child.

Simelane’€™s mother died some time back, and his father died more than a year ago. He does not know why they died, just that “there is no one at my home now, just the grave of my father”.

He does not have a birth certificate and does not know when his birthday is. No one in either parent’€™s family wanted to take care of the boy, who has become very affectionate and friendly after living at the hospital for the past three months.

Unless he gets a birth certificate, anyone caring for him will be unable to access either the Child Support or Foster Care grants being offered by the Department of Social Development.

However, the Department of Home Affairs in Ingwavuma is in a total state of disarray. Applications for documents dating back to 1998 are still waiting to be processed, and the two officials are rude and uncooperative.

Luckily for Simelane, Heather Reynolds who runs a home for abandoned and abused children in Cato Ridge, agreed to take him in.

But for thousands of other orphaned and abandoned children, their lack of a birth certificate is a major obstacle to accessing state grants.

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