Matrics helped to get IDs before exams

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Pretoria - The Department of Home Affairs has established a hotline to help speed up the process of securing identity books for matriculants in time for the final exams next week.

The lines, based at the head office, will be operational 24 hours a day, Director General Mkuseli Apleni said on Thursday.

Students can call 0800 6011 90 or 0800 2044 76. When calling the line, learners will need to provide their full names, proof of registration for the matric exams, school, name of the principal, an examination number, an exam centre number and a contact number.

Learners will then have to wait a week before they can get their documentation.

The DG said dedicated staff have already started working on this project.

The department promised that it will leave no stone unturned to ensure that all matriculants who are registered for exams but do not have their IDs, despite having applied, will be assisted urgently.

Apleni said although matriculants would not necessarily need their ID books to write the upcoming examinations, they would need it at some stage of their life.

"The department has a constitutional mandate to ensure that all South Africans of 16 years and above acquire the necessary documentation to enable them to access opportunities and social services provided by government."

Apleni believed the numbers of matrics who did not have IDs were low due to the department's outreach campaign, where mobile units were deployed at schools across the country to provide onsite application and registration assistance.

Other contact numbers also available for learners are 071 1236 353, 072 1255 631, 071 2278 438, 072 3810 836, 072 616 8819, 072 4358 569, 079 511 8810, 079 0754 326, 082 806 4945 and 082 808 2782.

Meanwhile, about 600 000 identity books remain uncollected at Home Affairs offices around the country. Despite several attempts by the department to contact such people, they have not picked their IDs.