Please help me trace my half-sister

Foxhound5366

Foxhound5366

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It's funny how life is ... you go through your whole life thinking you're an only child, and then you discover that actually you've got a half sister.

My basic question is: Is there any way of tracing my half sister using only our father's South African ID number? Where would I even start? I'm guessing Home Affairs wouldn't be of any use, so is this one of those 'private investigator' cases?

The story is that my parents divorced when I was very young, and my mother completely lost track of my father. I only just discovered from my father's sister (who'd also lost track of my father) that the last she knew was that he'd had a daughter with another woman ... making this girl my half-sister.

Now the sad update is that my mother finally found my father's ID number and gave that to me, and Home Affairs' website 'Alive Status' tool reveals that he's deceased (I know - but frankly everybody in his family had already suspected this due to health issues he'd had).

Unfortunately Google doesn't turn up any results for possible matches for my half-sister's name (I'm assuming she's married and got a new surname), so I'm at a loss here. Heck, the only reason I want to reach out to her is because I've always wished I had a sibling, and now it turns out I do ... somewhere.
 
You have two possibilities, both based on your father's ID number:

  • Your father's ID number will appear on your half-sister's unabridged birth certificate; and
  • If your father married your half-sister's mother then your father's ID number will appear on their marriage certificate.
Home Affairs might assist, so I would start by asking them.

Alternatively you might need a private investigator with "contacts" in Home Affairs.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
Where would I even start?
Click to expand...

You have a name and Id so, the more info you can gather about your father the better:

His surname common or unusual, if unusual check phone books and phone the numbers and enqire if they knew him.
Speak to your mom and aunt and get as much info as possible from them, maybe photos if any exist.
How did your mom meet him, where did they meet, were they introduced and if so by who?
How about your Aunt ?, are there cousins or second cousins she may know of, old friends she may remember from their childhood.
Schools he went to , maybe he was part of an "old boys" association.
Did he do military service ? was he part of that generation that did ?
What work he did at the time your folks divorced, and where did he work ? Was he known in his field ?
Did he play any sport, on a school level or club level ?
Secondary Education , degrees or diplomas and from which place?
How long ago did he pass away ? recent or many years ?
If you have a date of death or death certificate, and know which town or city, find out how to check the orbituaries in the local papers for that day or subsequent days, they often contain info such as "sadly missed by .............", in which case you may find a wife or childs name.
Its a long shot, but if recent, go to the traffic department with the id number and see if their are any tickets on that ID, ask them to print up the ticket ,if so you may get vehicle details with the last known address.

These are just off the top of my head, if i thnk of any others i will post them.
 
rrh said:
You have two possibilities, both based on your father's ID number:

  • Your father's ID number will appear on your half-sister's unabridged birth certificate; and
  • If your father married your half-sister's mother then your father's ID number will appear on their marriage certificate.
Home Affairs might assist, so I would start by asking them.

Alternatively you might need a private investigator with "contacts" in Home Affairs.
Click to expand...

You'd be surprised rrh ... I'd always expected unabridged birth certificates to be the holy grail, right up until I had to apply for my own. Lo and behold Home Affairs gave me the standard application form, where you write down as much information about yourself as possible ... about a month later, they returned my unabridged birth certificate, bearing exactly the same information!!! I didn't have my father's ID number back then, so it doesn't appear on my unabridged birth certificate.

Best bit is my unabridged marriage certificate ... again we applied with all the correct information, and Home Affairs then issued an unabridged marriage certificate with a bad typo in my wife's name (never mind they had all her documents as part of the application). Forgive me for not laying too much faith in Home Affairs.

As for private investigators, if anybody happens to know a good one to recommend I'm all ears.

Nanfeishen, thanks for those detailed pointers, I'll consider them. Right now I don't know anything else about my father's former whereabouts or marital status, nor does anybody else. I guess his death certificate would be a good place to start, and seeing if he left any kind of will behind.
 
There are several genealogy sites that have birth, marriage and death information. I have found the death certificates of numerous ancestors and relatives on the Mormon genealogy website familysearch.org. They have scanned in millions of South African records from birth, baptism and marriage records to death certificates. (None of my family have anything remotely to do with Mormons other than arguing with them.) Go there, register, and do a search - the chances are better than even that you'll find something.
 
A colleague discovered he had a half brother a few years ago (both in their 40's) via Facebook. They met up and exchanged pleasantries. And that was it. Don't expect more than that. You're practically strangers to each other.
 
Maybe find out where your dad and his second wife lived. Visit the neighbours.

That's what they do in the movies :)
 
Arthur said:
There are several genealogy sites that have birth, marriage and death information. I have found the death certificates of numerous ancestors and relatives on the Mormon genealogy website familysearch.org. They have scanned in millions of South African records from birth, baptism and marriage records to death certificates. (None of my family have anything remotely to do with Mormons other than arguing with them.) Go there, register, and do a search - the chances are better than even that you'll find something.
Click to expand...
Cool site Arthur, but zero hits for my father. Gonna try my grandfather just out of interest next.

biometrics said:
A colleague discovered he had a half brother a few years ago (both in their 40's) via Facebook. They met up and exchanged pleasantries. And that was it. Don't expect more than that. You're practically strangers to each other.
Click to expand...

I dunno biometrics, I've found that family is a strange kind of bond ... just had it with newly-discovered cousins before, where you get on well with people you've never met before, just because you're related. *shrugs* At the very least I don't want to regret not trying.
 
Foxhound5366 said:
I dunno biometrics, I've found that family is a strange kind of bond ... just had it with newly-discovered cousins before, where you get on well with people you've never met before, just because you're related. *shrugs* At the very least I don't want to regret not trying.
Click to expand...

Totally, go for it. And we would expect nothing less from you (now that we know you ... ;)).

But, don't get the hopes up.
 
I would contact Discovery at once. They will solve everything, and save you money in the process
 
jansdejager said:
You can start to see what the output is of "Verify a driver's qualification" on the Aarto website/
Click to expand...

LOL Jans, you have some original ideas. Just to check I entered my ID number in there and the return was "As at 2015-08-10 19:14 there is no information on eNaTIS indicating that the driver [ID number] is not qualified to drive." :P

Don't think that'd be relevant for my poor deceased father, or helpful in tracing my half-sister.
 
Try Discovery Insurance... only pulling your leg. Try and find the last town he was in, speak to the local doctors, hospitals they might have some records
 
Approach the Master's office at your local court, and find out if his estate has been wound up. As his child you will be entitled to know what the contents of his will was, and from there you'll be able to find the executor, and unless he vanished out of your sister's life as well, she might well be listed in his will. Even if he was estranged from her too, the executor should be able to help you with some information.
 
or you could post looking for x who had a father named y

and see what happens

social media has turned the world into a small place
 
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