Minister identifies fire victims

When the Department of Home Affairs first visited Kya Sands after the massive shack fire on 9 October, which left about 3 000 people displaced and without any identification documents, Gigaba promised the victims that new identity documents would be processed and delivered to them as soon as possible.

Gigaba said it took the department two weeks to verify all residents and create new identity documents for them, these included ID books and birth certificates.

“We did not want the lack of identity documents to impact on school and work,” he said. Gigaba said mothers and children were all issued with temporary documentation while awaiting new identity documents so they could still receive social grants. The Department of Home Affairs’ mobile unit tried to deliver as many identity documents as possible to the Kya Sands victims, however since many people were at work during the day they urged residents to visit the Home Affairs office in Randburg as soon as possible to fetch their documentation. Petrus Mathwasa, one of the victims of the fire, said he was very happy the minister had visited Kya Sands personally to deliver the identity documents. “Your ID book is everything,” he said. “If you don’t have an ID book you don’t have a job.”