HERAUT visited the Department of Home Affairs in Nigel on June 10 to find out more about their services during level 3, which are as follow:

registration of births (no need to bring your child to the offices), re-issue of birth certificates, late registration of births (by appointment only), death certificates, issuing of temporary ID cards, collection of ID’s and passports, but only for people involved in the cross border transportation of essential goods and medicines.

For marriages, couples are required to book an appointment by calling Heidelberg Home Affairs on 016 341 6333 or Springs Home Affairs on 011 730 9800, as this service is temporarily not available at Nigel Home Affairs.

On the day of the marriage, couples are advised to visit the particular home affairs office with only their witnesses in order to keep the numbers of people at a bare minimum. An appointment is also required when applying for a late registration of birth (LRB), which refers to a birth registration application lodged after 30 days of such a birth.

“Children who were born during the lockdown will not follow the LRB process. This includes children who were born from February 26, but could not be registered because of the lockdown,” Siya Qoza (spokesperson for the Minister of Home Affairs) explained.

The Department of Home Affairs invites citizens whose smart ID cards are not yet collected, to collect it at the office where they had applied as soon as possible.

All offices are regularly disinfected and visitors are not allowed to enter the building without a face mask. It remains important to observe social distancing protocols inside and outside the offices. Refugee reception offices remain closed, but permits issued lawfully and that expired during the lockdown, would be deemed to be valid until July 31.

Nigel Home Affairs is open to the public from 08:30 to 15:30, Mondays to Fridays and you can phone them on 011 730 4300 for more information.