A mother of four has been struggling through the hell of being “married” for over 15 years to a man she has never even met in her entire life, however her ordeal finally came to an end when the Gauteng High Court declared that the “marriage” she was entered into in February 2006 was not valid.
Elize O’Brien has been struggling for years to convince Home Affairs that she had never met Khaled Elshahhat Ally Elsharakawi and that she was definitely not married to him.
She told local media that while she was relieved to finally be “divorced” from “her husband”, it was not the end of her problems. Due to the fact that her ID wrongly stated that she was MRS. Elsharakawi she was unable to apply for a job and thus lives in poverty.
“I am bitter and upset. Home Affairs married me to a man I did not know. He, in turn, used me to obtain South African citizenship. Meanwhile, I am the victim in all of this,” she said.
She said that she had no knowledge of who her “husband” was other than that Home Affairs records reflected that he was born in October 1975 and that they “got married” in Germiston.
“I never partook in a marriage and I never signed a marriage register.”
She only discovered her marital status in 2007 after the birth of her first daughter, when they went to register her birth she was told her child would have to be registered under her married surname.
“I had no idea what the official was talking about as I have never been married and I did not know this man.”
She said that despite her protesting, she was given only two options: either register the child under her so-called husband’s name or under the name of the child’s father. She chose the latter option but was unhappy as she had wanted the child to have her surname and felt the child was deprived of the name she deserved.
This was the start of the 15-year battle to get her life and surname back.
After years of practically being stonewalled by Home Affairs, the Wits Law Clinic took on her plight and turned to court where she has finally obtained justice.
Sources: IOL, World News
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