Mpumalanga woman shocked to discover she is married to a ‘Mr Muhammad’

Elsie Mgwenya is caught in a Kafkaesque struggle, haunted by a marriage to a man she has never met. The Mpumalanga resident claims the Department of Home Affairs wrongly registered her as married to “Mr Muhammad” without her knowledge or consent.

This “ghost marriage” has left her unable to legally marry her partner of 20 years and obtain a birth certificate for her son.

“I was shocked when the lady assisting me divulged that I am married to a Mr Muhammad, who lives in Durban,” said Mgwenya, recalling her attempt to open a bank account in 2017. The ordeal repeated itself when trying to register her son.

“I was told that the surname of my child should be Muhammad… But I refused because it did not make sense to me.”

Mgwenya fears her partner will believe she’s involved in a fraudulent marriage scheme.

“What worries me most is the fact that my partner will end up thinking that I know this Muhammad,” she confessed.

Despite her pleas, Home Affairs has failed to provide answers or rectify the situation.

Desperate for a solution, Mgwenya has turned to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).

“I am praying and hoping the commission will be able to compel the department to annul this illegal marriage,” she said, demanding an investigation into how the fraudulent marriage was registered in the first place.

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