Home Affairs offices open on Election Day, but will you get an ID?

Manny de Freitas, DA MP and Shadow Minister of Home Affairs alleged that the Department of Home Affairs offices have not been issuing temporary ID documents to potential voters.

“In the last week I have been inundated with queries from people who have made application for IDs,” he said on the eve of the 2014 national elections.

“These people were not issued temporary IDs as is the norm. A temporary ID allows citizens a form of identity while waiting for the ID for which they applied.”
According to his information a number of these people have made inquiries with the department, and the standard reply has been either their system was down or the application was still being processed.

According to De Freitas, some people have been told that temporary IDs were no longer issued.

“Is there a concerted effort by home affairs to ensure that some South Africans are unable to vote?” he asked. “It appears so. Anyone in this position must go to their local home affairs office and demand a temporary ID so that they are able to vote.

“They should do this even on election day when home affairs offices will be open from 7am to 9pm. Do not take no for an answer, every registered citizen should be able to vote without obstacles in their way.”

The home affairs department said the allegations were false.

The department said its offices would be open on 7 May to ensure all potential voters could vote by having the right documentation with them.

“In this regard, the department will issue citizens who may require such enabling documents as temporary identity certificates, and afford those who may wish to collect their uncollected green bar coded IDs and smart ID cards an opportunity to do so while also issuing letters of confirmation of identity,” the department said in a statement.

“Office hours were also extended to 7.30pm today [6 May] to accommodate any registered voters that have lost their IDs.”