AN uMgeni Park resident says he is at his wits end trying to prove he is not dead. Jan Meyer, 66, was declared dead in 2015 by the Department of Home Affairs. The Browns Drift Road resident said that his life has come to a standstill since he was informed by the department’s offices in Umgeni Road when he was applying for a new ID, that he was “deceased”.

“I had gone to the department’s offices to renew my ID but when I got there, I got the fright of my life when the officials informed me that according to their records, I’m deceased. Apparently I died in Sasolburg, I’ve never been to the place. Now I’ve got a death certificate. It has been over a year now and I am being sent from pillar to post to resolve the matter. I’ve completed several documents, received affidavits, and still nothing has been down. Now, the records are also showing my wife is a widower.

“I’m so angry and frustrated, but what makes this worse, is nobody is that taking responsibility. I was interviewed on TV not too long ago and I was assured by the Minister of Home Affairs that the issue would be sorted, a year later and still nothing has been rectified. I also cannot claim annuities from my insurance. Last year, I had to write an affidavit before one of them paid me out, however this year, once again, they have halted the payments saying I was dead,” he said.

Earlier this year Meyer visited his children in Namibia and had problems crossing the border.

“I have virtually no rights. My biggest fear is if I do die, what happens to my wife. No one seems to care enough to set the record straight. Earlier this year, I was humiliated at my voting station because the record reflected I was dead. I couldn’t even vote. No one can tell me it may have been an error at the capturing stage or a duplication because of the same names. There are promises of investigation, but no one does anything. I’m so stressed by this, I just want things to be okay again,” he said.