Home Affairs lets down Bay trio
OVER the years I have followed the achievements of all at the Khayalethu Youth Centre with great admiration. Creating a real home for boys, who were living their childhood on the streets, is nothing short of a testimonial to the vision and the drive of the staff.
They take care of the boys, look after their schooling and equip them with skills for life. All the boys apply themselves to karate, a martial art known to instil self-control and discipline.
Those of us who read the newspaper story (“Karate ticket to world champs”, Algoa Sun, June 11) smiled at the news that six of the Khayalethu boys who qualified for full South African FSK colours in karate were gearing up to represent the country in the 5th WJKA World Championship in the Netherlands. If we put ourselves in the shoes of these six boys, we know how much such a great adventure means.
We all know that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The Khayalethu board decided to undertake a separate fundraising effort to make this dream come true.
They were prepared to meet a big money challenge – but sponsors came through generously to fund the journey. However, no-one could foresee to what extent the acquisition of a ministerial letter of permission, passports, Schengen visas and unabridged birth certificates would turn into a stressful nightmare of bureaucratic obstruction.
The social workers exhausted themselves on behalf of their boys with endless follow-ups, queueing, phoning, mailing – back and forth between Bhisho, the Home Affairs Department, Cape Town and Pretoria. They made every possible attempt to have all the documentation in place.
Stress levels peaked when deadlines for delivery were not kept by the officials who had made promises. On the day of the boys’ departure, three passports still were to be delivered at O R Tambo Airport.
Have you seen the airport picture of the six boys all kitted out with Springbok jerseys and their luggage? The readiness, the eagerness?
Only three of these boys were eventually allowed on the plane. The youngest three were forced to remain behind.
Three passports did not arrive before boarding time: one passport’s visum was not ready and two passports were couriered to Cape Town, in spite of the arrangement to hand them over in Johannesburg.
Let’s again put ourselves in the shoes of these young hopefuls, with their hopes dashed. Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of the dedicated staff of Khayalethu, with their effort undone, just as shattered by the disappointment.
How do we feel about this case, where the officials in charge didn’t even display the most basic of work ethics to do a timely job? The contrast between a project like Khayalethu -where to function, miracles are performed daily – and the under-performance of our institutions is dramatic.
Can our public servants be persuaded to operate their systems so that they meet the public’s needs? Are they willing to work for us -not against us?
By the way, news from the Netherlands: one boy won a gold medal, another silver and the third just missed bronze.