Home Affairs Deputy Minister Fatima Chohan on Monday handed over a smart ID card to South Africa’s Ambassador to Italy, Tembi Tambo, as part of the commemorations marking the centenary of her father, the late Oliver Reginald Tambo.
The smart ID card handover was timed to coincide with the centenary year of the South African icon as a tribute to the struggles waged by OR Tambo and his wife, Adelaide Tambo, in pursuit of human rights, citizenship and justice for all.
The initiative is also part of the general drive by Home Affairs to get all South Africans to apply for smart IDs. The department will work with various institutions and groups in the next few months to create awareness on the importance of smart IDs.
Presently, the department is engaging the family of the late Ahmed Timol and learners from Manenberg on the Cape Flats, as part of its rollout.
“It is important for us to pay tribute to leaders such as Oliver and Adelaide Tambo, so that we can reflect on their values and the sacrifices they made to move the country forward.
“It is through their efforts, alongside many South Africans, that their children and grandchildren and millions of South Africans now have basic rights previously denied,” Deputy Minister Chohan said.
The four machines that are used to print smart ID cards were named after Sophie de Bruyn, Rahima Moosa, Helen Joseph and Lilian Ngoyi, leaders of the 1956 anti-pass laws march.
Smart IDs are more convenient than the current IDs and are much safer since personal information is carried in a computer chip on the card. The chip cannot be stolen from the card and neither can the information in it be duplicated. They will drastically reduce the potential for identity fraud. – SAnews.gov.za
