Smart ID Card is freedom for Mpumalanga Premier David Mabuza
Mpumalanga Premier has explained his application for a new Smart ID Card from Home Affairs as freedom and moving away from the painful past. Addressing journalists outside Nelspruit Home Affairs Offices, Premier Mabuza said applying for his new Smart ID Card was a great step forward in identifying himself as a South African.
As the first citizen of Mpumalanga, Premier Mabuza was today Tuesday, 21 January 2014 afforded an opportunity by the Home Affairs Department to apply for his Smart ID Card in order to allow members of the provincial legislature and senior citizens to follow.
Mabuza expressed satisfaction at the time it took to undergo the process of applying until one gets his or her document. He said the time was fair although it would mainly depend on the efficiency of the computers.
“I am liberated now; I do not have to carry a green-bar coded identity document any longer. This is my real freedom, I am indeed moving away from the painful past. The system is not complicated, I was verified positively on the spot as a South African, my application was received and I was told to come collect my card on Thursday this week.
“The experience was great, I would like therefore to encourage the people of Mpumalanga to come in numbers and rubberstamp our new founded democracy by getting their Smart ID Cards,” said Mabuza.
Mabuza told senior officials at the Nelspruit Home Affairs Office that the provincial government would assist in ensuring that they reach their target of 100 000 people to have applied and received their smart cards by the end of March this year.
“When it comes to the elderly, we are interested as a provincial government because these are very fragile and complicated people, we would not want them to stand in the queues for a long time. We do not want incidents in the queues, we might be criticised, we want to make sure that they do not die in our hands.
“We should do everything to ensure that they are comfortable enough, otherwise they might not come. The department should determine exactly how long it would take to process a certain number of individuals, as a provincial government we are ready to give the necessary support,” said Mabuza.
The roll-out of Smart ID Cards in Mpumalanga is currently being rolled out in Nelspruit, Witbank and in Middelburg. Offices in Piet Retief and Ermelo are being equipped to follow soon. The cards have advanced security features and citizens will be invited by Home Affairs Department to come and apply according to their dates of birth.
“The system is very short, unlike before where you had to fill-in many papers and wait probably three months while the documents are sent to Pretoria for processing, everything is now electronic and get told on the spot if your application has been successful,” said Mabuza.
Enquiries:
Zibonele Mncwango
Spokesperson: Mpumalanga Premier
Cell: 079 491 0163
Tel: 013 766 2453
E-mail: zmncwango@mpg.gov.za
