Home Affairs weekly media briefing by Director-General Mkuseli Apleni
We take this opportunity to extend our best wishes and compliments to all members of the media present with us during this weekly media briefing. As our invitation would have indicated, our media briefing today will focus on three main issues namely Home Affairs plans in support of the voter registration weekend of 8-9 February 2014, the mass roll-out plan for the Smart ID cards and misinformation regarding Home Affairs job opportunities for matriculants.
Plans for voter registration weekend 8 - 9 February 2014
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has set aside the weekend of 8-9 February 2014 as the second voter registration weekend ahead of the national elections scheduled for later this year. Arising from this determination by the IEC, Minister of Home Affairs Naledi Pandor has directed the department to develop plans in support of the IEC during the voter registration weekend.
The Department’s support for the IEC arises from its mandate to deliver enabling documents such as IDs to those citizens that may require them for voter registration purposes ahead of the national and provincial elections. IDs are an important element that enables the citizenry to exercise its democratic right to vote.
In this regard, the Department of Home Affairs stands ready to issue IDs, including delivery of uncollected IDs and temporary identity certificates to those in need.
As part of the overall plan of the department for the voter registration weekend and in keeping with past practices, we have directed managers in all Home Affairs offices across the country to ensure the following:
- All home Affairs offices to be opened from 08h00-17h00 on both days 8-9 February
- That all Home Affairs offices operate to full capacity during the two-day voter registration weekend.
We take this opportunity to advise the public that in agreement with the IEC, both the green bar-coded IDs and the smart ID cards will be acceptable as legal forms of identity for purposes of registration and voting during the elections.
As in the previous voter registration weekend, we have directed that the Director-General, Chief Operating Officer and all other Deputy Directors-General visit all provinces in accordance with our internal deployment processes to help co-ordinate and oversee the work of the provinces during the weekend. The programme of the Ministry in support of this process will be communicated in due course.
We join the call by the IEC for those South Africans who are eligible to vote to take advantage of the voter registration weekend to approach Home Affairs offices across the country for assistance in acquiring these enabling documents to exercise their democratic right to vote in this year that marks the 20 years since the dawn of peace, freedom and democracy.
Mass roll-out of the smart ID cards
As you may very well be aware, Minister Naledi Pandor has announced that the department stands ready to roll-out the smart ID cards to the public with effect from 1 February 2014. In this regard, the department has successfully revamped 28 offices across the country to facilitate applications for the smart ID cards.
We reiterate our view that the smart ID card is one of the major achievements of the 20 years of our democracy and comes within the context of efforts by the government to consolidate the restoration of identity, citizenship and dignity to all our people.
In this regard and with effect from 1 February 2014, the department stands ready to take applications for the smart ID cards to the following categories:
- 16 year old and above first time applicants can apply any month of the year.
- 60 year old pensioners born during January and February must approach home affairs offices during the month of February to apply.
- From March this year, 60 year olds and above can now apply in accordance with their months of birth.
- All other citizens should wait for invitations to apply.
At this stage, applications for the Smart ID card can only be made at the following offices:
Gauteng
Soweto; Akasia and Byron Place in Pretoria; Harrison Street in Johannesburg
Limpopo
Jane Furse, Polokwane and Tzaneen
North West
Potchefstroom, Rustenburg and Klerksdorp
Mpumalanga
Nelspruit, Middleburg and Emalahleni
Free State
Bloemfontein, Kroonstad and Welkom
Northern Cape
Kimberley, Kuruman and Upington
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN)
Mtubatuba, Durban-commercial and Pietermaritzburg
Eastern Cape
Port Elizabeth, Mthatha and King Williamstown
Western Cape
Wynberg, George and Barrack Street
Remember:
- Exercise patience as the process of rolling out the smart cards will take a few years.
- The smart ID cards will be issued freely to 16 year-olds first time applicants and pensioners who are 60 years and above.
Misinformation regarding jobs for matriculants
The Department has noted with concern misinformation in some social media circles claiming that the department is offering training with prospects of employment to matriculants. The Department wishes to put it on the record that such reports are false and devoid of truth, with a potential to mislead young people who are desperately in need of work.
What Home Affairs has initiated through its Learning Academy in the quest to contribute to the national drive for skills development and fighting unemployment, is a cadet programme for unemployed graduates. The cadet programme for graduates will first run as a pilot with effect from February 2014. In this regard the selection of prospective candidates has been finalised.
The cadets will be taken through the Home Affairs national certificate on home affairs services. The aim is to produce skills and offer experience to young graduates, who may, depending on their performance, be absorbed within our services or seek employment in other departments and elsewhere.
The cadet programme is part of the strategy to attract, train and introduce to the public service new officers who are security-conscious, professional, hard-working, patriotic and endowed with the right attitude of mind to serve the people with dignity while upholding the principles of Batho Pele and the Constitution.
I thank you
