ID wrongfully blocked? Contact Home Affairs NOW says minister, 'we want to help'
Nearly 700,000 IDs are at risk of being cancelled.
About 700,000 IDs have been blocked by the Department of Home Affairs without due process. Picture: Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp
Bongani Bingwa speaks to Minister of Home Affairs, Leon Schreiber.
Listen below.
Are you in possession of a blocked ID? Home Affairs wants to help.
The department has called on affected South Africans to get in contact.
Investigations will be conducted and the department will clear any IDs wrongfully blocked.
The department says nearly 700,000 IDs risk being cancelled, some originally blocked as far back as 2005.
“There are a large number of people who have been affected… [and] a large number of them are blocked due to fraud [so] please come forward.”
– Leon Schreiber, Minister – Home Affairs
IDs are blocked for several reasons. These include the ID holder passing away, an ID beng flagged as a duplicate, or and ID being held by an illegal immigrant, explains Shreiber.
He encourages South Africans to upgrade their green ID books for smart cards as these are less susceptible to fraud.
This is in line with Schreiber’s shake-up of the department to curb fraud and corruption.
“We are continuing the work to clean up the department. There are no illusions, we understand that this is a serious problem… there is zero tolerance for corruption.”
– Leon Schreiber, Minister – Home Affairs
Submissions for blocked IDs can be sent to Sylvia.Phasha@dha.gov.za
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