Compassion needed to rectify bureaucratic error

WE ARE all human and therefore subject to the failings common to our kind, which we politely refer to as mistakes.

Sometimes these mistakes are not the fault of us humans, but the machines on which we depend so much.

However, whoever or whatever is at fault, the important thing is to acknowledge the mistake, apologise for it and then hastily make whatever reparations are necessary.

Not, as our page 1 story describes, send the victim of the mistake from pillar to post to get the error rectified.

Gourie Bryce’s tale is one we can all relate to, being subject to the whims of bureaucracy as we are.

As if the loss of her dear husband was not pain enough, her trauma is now being compounded by a Home Affairs error which sullies the memory of her 30-plus-year marriage, his death certificate stating he was divorced.

One can only imagine the number of ways this affects her as she tries to move on with her life, and the need for urgency in having a new certificate issued.

Not so the people at Home Affairs, it seems, who couldn’t deign to even tender a response to our queries on the matter, sent starting on Tuesday.

Come on, guys…

A little compassion and alacrity would go a long way in repairing the image of a department which, let’s face it, does not have the best reputation to begin with.