Mabopane residents encouraged to register to vote

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Pretoria – Deputy Minister in the Presidency Buti Manamela on Sunday visited Mabopane township, north of Pretoria as part of a campaign to encourage the locals to register to vote during the forthcoming local government elections.

The campaign is also targeted at encouraging young people between the ages of 18 and 19 years to register to vote. 

Deputy Minister Manamela started his visit in the area by visiting the local Home Affairs offices.

There, the deputy minister interacted with people who came to apply for IDs and other documents.

Amongst those who came was Gladys Mathibela, a mother of four, who complained that for the past five years she has been struggling to get her ID.

Mathibela appealed to the deputy minister to intervene.

Deputy Minister Manamela assured the angry Mathibela that he is going to follow-up the matter with the Department of Home Affairs.

Another resident Tsientsi Nyauza also complained saying he has been struggling to get his ID.

“I’ll personally follow it up with the department,” he said.

Speaking to SAnews, Mabopane Home Affairs Manager Malebo Moswatsi, said this weekend her office received 25 new ID applications and 40 were collected this weekend.

She said as part of encouraging people, especially the young to apply for their IDs, her office has deployed mobile trucks to strategic areas in Mabopane.

“We wanted to make it easier for people to apply for their IDs,” she said.

Malebo said her office issued 13 temporary IDs yesterday and hopes more will be issued today.

After visiting the Home Affairs offices, the Deputy Minister, accompanied by Gauteng MEC for Social Development Nandi Mayathula interacted with the locals and later conducted a door-to-door campaign visiting child-headed house holds in Mabopane.

Deputy Minister Manamela is also expected to address the locals at the Mabopane Golf Course.

According to the Department of Home Affairs, nationally, 263 000 smart ID cards and 68 000 green ID books remain uncollected. Approximately 6 000 have been sent to the department’s head office to be destroyed. – SAnews.gov.za