Johannesburg - At least 66 000 identity documents were collected from the Department of Home Affairs offices after it extended operating hours to enable voters without IDs to cast votes during the local government polls.
Voters who had lost their IDs were issued with temporary identity certificates, the department said.
“In all, 66 304 enabling documents for voting were collected from 30 July to 3 August 2016. A thank you to all patriotic citizens for heeding Home Affairs’ clarion call to collect IDs,” the department said on Thursday.
The department extended working hours to include weekends at its offices across the country. Identity documents that had not been collected for over a year and after August 3 would be destroyed as per the department’s policy, it said.
“After 03 August 2016, we will revert back to the policy of destroying identity documents that have been uncollected for over a year. The policy of destroying uncollected documents is implemented to protect against any potential fraudulent activity. Therefore, it will be the responsibility of the applicant to lodge a new application and pay the prescribed amount where necessary,” the department said.
African News Agency