Home affairs cuts services due to power failure
Processing of ID cards, temporary ID cards and passports has been suspended nationally.
Home Affairs has announced it had suspended smart ID, temporary ID and passport applications nationally due to a power failure at a Pretoria back office.
The department said in a statement on Wednesday that the only services it could continue to offer were for birth, marriage and death reports.
It blamed the power failure on load-shedding.
“All applications that use live captures like smart ID cards and passports cannot be issued without first being cleared by this office,” it said.
The department said its generator and four power backup sources were affected by the failure.
“Unfortunately, the damage also affected the UPS. This will mean that all home affairs offices in the country are unable to issue smart ID cards, passports and temporary identity certificates.”
“Technicians are working around the clock to ensure that services are speedily restored. We are hoping that they may be restored by tomorrow. The department apologises to clients and appeals for their patience.”
Recently, Eskom escalated load-shedding to stage 4 because of what it called unexpected breakdowns.
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