Home Affairs Minister Siyabonga Cwele has called on people who have applied for their Smart ID Cards and have received SMS notifications that their documents are ready for collection to go and pick them up.
Cwele made the call during an unannounced visit to the department’s Umgeni office in eThekwini on Thursday to monitor service delivery.
This follows the extension of operating hours from 7am to 7pm at most offices to ensure clients are not turned away from offices during this busy period.
During the visit, Cwele observed that there were Smart ID Cards which had not been collected.
“We appeal to people who applied for Identity Documents and have received an SMS notification that their documents are ready for collection to please come and collect these documents.
“IDs are key documents which enable citizens to access many government and private sector services,” said the Minister.
With the elections coming up, citizens need their IDs to register to vote. “We also encourage people to register to vote,” he said.
The Minister was accompanied by the department’s acting Director General, Thulani Mavuso, and KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Manager, Cyril Mncwabe.
Cwele said he was happy with the level of service delivery at the branch.
“I am pleased that our citizens were receiving services at this home affairs office. The staff and the systems were working well,” said Cwele.
He expressed his concern about school going children who were at home affairs offices while the schools have reopened and appealed to officials to prioritise them to ensure they get back to class as quickly as possible.
Mavuso and Mncwabe also visited the Chatsworth and Prospecton offices where services were being delivered without glitches.
The extension of operating hours at home affairs offices ends on Friday, 11 January 2019. – SAnews.gov.za
