The City of Ekurhuleni has called on its residents to go and collect their IDs at their local Department of Home Affairs offices (DHA).
Home Affairs is currently experiencing an overwhelming number of uncollected IDs nationally and the City of Ekurhuleni is no exception.
According to recent figures released by DHA, in Ekurhuleni, there are approximately 19 150 smart IDs and 1 528 green bar-coded IDs that are left uncollected.
The city has urged residents to collect their IDs so they can register to vote during the voter registration period in January 2019.
The city said uncollected IDs hamper its service delivery programmes because residents cannot register for other municipal programmes, such as RDP housing and cannot collect their title deeds when they are available for collection.
“Among the services that the residents forgo due to lack of IDs are enlisting on the city’s indigent database, for which they are entitled for free water, free electricity and indigent rebates...
“To this end, the City of Ekurhuleni has entered into a partnership with the Department of Home Affairs to fast-track the collection of IDs. The city is providing transport to elderly residents, people living with disabilities and military veterans,” the city said in a statement.
Non-governmental organisation, community-based organisations and churches have also been roped in to assist. The city has also used its popular community outreach programme, Siyaqhuba, to advocate for application and collection of birth certificates and IDs. – SAnews.gov.za
