Home Affairs Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, says Home Affairs offices throughout the country will be opened this weekend to assist those who will be applying for IDs and temporary IDs to enable them to register to vote.
Motsoaledi said during the voter registration weekend, assistance will also be given to those who want to collect their IDs.
Addressing the media earlier today, Motsoaledi expressed concern on the large number of uncollected IDs at Home Affairs offices throughout the country.
“Without an ID, one cannot register to vote,” Motsoaledi said.
According to Motsoaledi, Gauteng has the largest number of uncollected IDs.
Motsoaledi said during the voter registration weekend, Home Affairs is deploying 3039 officials to assist those who will be applying for IDs, temporary IDs and assisting those who will be coming to collect their IDs.
Services that will be rendered during the registration weekend includes:
Issuance of Temporary Identity Certificates (TICs).
Collection of Green Barcoded Identity Books and Smart Identity Cards to applicants.
Manual Verification of Temporary Identity Certificates (TIC).
Resolving challenges pertaining to duplicates, amendments, rectifications and dead alive cases with required supporting documents.
Motsoaledi said they have deployed 200 people in head office to assist with drawing records to resolve cases that might arise.
He said people can also visit selected banks to go and apply for their IDs or temporary IDs.
The Minister said his department has deployed 49 technicians to Home Affairs offices and in mobile offices throughout the country to assist during the voter registration weekend.
According to Motsoaledi, the mobile offices with generators will be deployed mostly in the rural areas and that people can go and collect their IDs from the mobile offices.
Home Affairs Deputy Minister Njabulo Nzuza, who is currently visiting the department’s offices, which were vandalised in July in Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal, confirmed that the department is ready to assist those people who will be applying for IDs and temporary IDs.
As a result of the acts of vandalism, the Eshowe office had to close down.
In this regard, Minister Motsoaledi has instructed the department to use alternative sites to register deaths to assist grieving families and funeral undertakers as some offices are inaccessible.
Deputy Minister Nzuza visited the Eshowe Hospital where deaths will be registered as an interim measure.
For the voter registration weekend, a total of 23 151 registration stations throughout the country will be in operation from 08h00 until 17h00 on both Saturday and Sunday.
On Thursday, the Electoral Commission’s Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said in order to register to vote, voters need to bring an identity document which may be a Smart Card, green barcoded book or a Temporary Identification Certificate.
“It is essential that a voter indicates an address or a description of a place where they live. Proof of address is not a requirement for purposes of registration,” he said.
The Commission has written to the Minister of Home Affairs, requesting that he facilitates a request to the President asking for the election day to be declared a public holiday.
According to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) voters who are registered can confirm their registration online on the website, on the IEC APP and by calling the contact centre at 0800 11 8000 (calls are free of charge from a landline and standard mobile network rates apply). Alternatively, an identity number can be sent to 32810 via the Short Message System (SMS).
Source: South African Government News Agency