The Home Affairs Department is considering opening some of its offices that have high volumes of uncollected IDs from September until December.
This as the number of uncollected IDs stands at more than 500 000 across the country.
Responding to parliamentary questions from EFF MP Thapelo Mogale, Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said: “(The) total number of uncollected ID documents is 566 429.
Out of 566 429 cases, there are 63 452 deceased cases, leaving a balance of 502 977 uncollected IDs.”
Motsoaledi’s response showed that Gauteng led the pack with 111 841 uncollected IDs, followed by KwaZulu-natal with 68 337, Western Cape with 63 500 and Eastern Cape 61 839.
There are 42 806 uncollected IDs in Limpopo, 34 986 in the Free State, 33 861 in North West, 30 839 in Mpumalanga and 15 905 in Northern Cape.
There were 6 596 uncollected IDs in the department’s mobile unit and 32 467 in the e-channel.
The offices with a high volume of uncollected IDs are Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape with 8 350, Akasia in Gauteng with 8 344, Cape Town with 7 396, eThekwini with 6 813 and Bloemfontein with 6 744.
The department’s offices in the Western Cape with the highest numbers of uncollected IDs are Wynberg, Bellville, Paarl and Nyanga.
Motsoaledi said there were various reasons for the non-collection of the IDs.
These included clients having valid Green IDs resulting in applicants not returning to collect the new smart ID card, long queues at offices, clients unable to collect Smart ID Cards during system downtime, no updated contact details provided by an applicant, no money to travel to department offices, and applicants relocating to another town, city or country.
The minister said as part of steps to improve the collection of IDs, the department recently enhanced its branch appointment booking system with a “collections” option in order for clients to schedule an appointment to collect their IDs in all live capture offices.
“The modernisation system was also enhanced with a new capability for front offices to ‘redirect’ IDs and passports to alternative offices as required by the client.”
Motsoaledi also said the department communicated to the public when various offices will open on Saturdays.
“Clients are encouraged to take advantage of the extended hours on Saturdays to collect documents they have applied for and not wait for the last minute.
“At local front office level, clients are also being called in to collect while mobile units are taking IDs to rural areas, schools and high volume communities for distribution of IDs for collection.”
He also said there was reactivation of SMSs to remind clients to collect the uncollected IDs at the offices.
“There are also community outreach programmes in partnerships with the Independent Electoral Commission, Department of Basic Education, metros, districts and local municipalities.”
Motsoaledi added that uncollected ID volumes are shared with stakeholders to market and encourage clients to collect their documents through the various platforms provided.
“The department is also in the process of preparing the necessary resources to have high volume offices open on Saturdays from September 30 to November 11, 2023 (five Saturdays only) for collection purposes as a build-up to voter registration weekend taking place on November 18-19, 2023,” he added.
Cape Times