Pretoria – Home Affairs offices will stay open until 7pm today so people can collect their identity documents.
The adjusted operating hours are in line with voting hours for the 2016 Local Government Elections. Voting stations will also close at 7pm.
Offices that were offline in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, due to a cable break, are now up and running. The only office that is still offline is Garankuwa – also due to cable theft. A mobile unit has been deployed to the area and the Garankuwa Home Affairs Office Manager has been directing some of the clients to proceed to the office in Mabopane.
“The department continues to call citizens who have applied for ID books and smart ID cards to collect as a matter of urgency. To vote, a person requires a valid green identity document, smart ID card or a temporary identity document.
“A total of 49 934 IDs were collected in this period. This process promoted the department’s drive to ensure citizens apply for and collect their new smart ID cards, with a total of 34 644 smart ID cards collected between 30 July and 2 August,” said Home Affairs spokesperson Mayihlome Tshwete on Wednesday.
As at 2 August 2016, statistics for uncollected documents stand as follows: 38 553 green ID books in the provinces; 4 656 green ID books at head office and 201 454 smart ID cards.
Tshwete thanked Home Affairs officials and managers for putting in the extra effort to provide extended services to all citizens and prospective voters, in support of the electoral process and in promotion of the Republic’s constitutional democracy. – SAnews.gov.za
