N AT I O N A L I N Q U I R Y R E P O R T ZIMBABWE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION For Human Dignity Challenges and Issues Faced by Special Interest Groups Access was limited by the distances they had to travel to the DRG’s office and the costs involved were deterrent. Their understanding of the importance and value of these documents was poor. Most San women give birth at home and do not register the births. The Tonga community stated that long distances to the nearest DRG service center was an issue of concern. Some communities110 were prone to attacks by wildlife since they walk an average of twenty-five (25) kilometers to access the DRG services. The mixed race (Coloured) community highlighted that they suffer discrimination as they cannot access land from places of origin as their “double zero” classification on national identity documents is not related to any district. The Doma community live in remote areas where social services are not accessible. As a result, they travel long distance to access registration services. Nearest DRG office from Chapoto (in Mashonaland Central is about 105km) and transport is very costly, especially when covering transport costs for witnesses. Ninety-five percent (95%) of the community does not have passports. A substantial number of members of the Doma community do not have access to death certificates. 4.7 Elderly Persons (60 years +) Image 10 Participation of Elderly persons in the NI process Elderly persons above the age of sixty years (60) who have identity cards without birth certificates find it difficult to get birth certificates because the DRG’s offices asked for either their parents or witnesses who are ten (10) years older than them- a requirement that is difficult to fulfil. In addition, the DRG officials do not find it necessary to issue birth certificates to elderly persons because they can be issued with passports without the birth certificates. This fact is however, unknown to many of the elderly persons. This group experienced difficulties in accessing documentation due to old age for example, loss of memory resulting in failure to remember the location of registry offices and details (such as where they came from, their villages, chiefs), difficulties in remembering their national identity numbers or birth 110 These concerns were raised by the Communities in Mola, Mashonaland West Province. 37 37