Pretoria – Home Affairs officials have urged all South Africans with duplicate IDs or ID numbers to come forward and correct this before the end of October.
The department’s acting Director-General, Vusumuzi Mkhize, announced today that Home Affairs will invalidate duplicate Identity Documents (IDs) by 31 October. This means that people who have multiple ID numbers will not be able to use their IDs after this date.
Affected individuals will not be able to do bank transactions, open accounts or apply for services like driver’s licences, among other things. Their names have been published on the Government Gazette and will also be printed in newspapers.
People who share ID numbers are given until December to come forward to rectify the discrepancy. Their names are also published in the Government Gazette.
Mkhize said since 2009, the Home Affairs Department had reduced the number of duplicate IDs from 500 000 to just over 20 000.
“We have tried to encourage holders to come forward to resolve duplicates. [We] intend to invalidate all duplicate IDs in December this year. All holders of duplicates should approach our offices to seek assistance,” said Mkhize.
South Africans wishing to know whether they have duplicate IDs should check their names on the Government Gazette or SMS the letter ‘D’ followed by their ID number to 32551. They can also visit the Home Affairs website and follow the link ‘duplicate’. Some may wish to call the toll free number 0800 601190 or visit any Home Affairs offices. – SAnews.gov.za
