Pretoria - South Africans hoping to cast their ballot on August 3 have been urged to collect their IDs from Home Affairs, Minister Malusi Gigaba has said.
Gigaba told journalists in Pretoria the department was extending its office hours to serve people who applied for IDs but had not yet collected them. The total number of uncollected IDs stands at 282 300.
The minister said departmental centres across the country would be open on July 30 from 8.30am to 5pm, Women's Day from 8.30am to 6pm, August 2 from 8.30am to 6pm, and August 3 from 7am to 7pm.
He said the department had arranged with the Independent Electoral Commission for its staff who would be working in various provinces on voting day to cast their ballots on August 1.
The department would also suspend its policy of destroying IDs that had not been collected for a year for the duration of the election period, he added.
The rationale behind the temporary arrangements, the minister said, was to enable people to fetch their ID in order to participate in the elections. “After August 3, we will revert back to the policy of destroying documents that have been uncollected for over a year,” he said.
Those who could not collect their documents would have to make new application and pay the prescribed amount, said Gigaba. The policy was implemented to protect against any potential fraudulent activities.
At least 68 669 smart cards, 44 681 green ID books and 168 950 reissue smart ID cards were yet to be collected.
“All political parties should encourage voters to collect their enabling documents so they exercise their democratic right to vote,” the minister added.
Pretoria News