DEAR Editor,-
Please allow me to address some apparent misunderstanding regarding the number of uncollected passports and identity documents at the Home Affairs office in Port Shepstone. In the ‘talk back’ column in last week’s South Coast Herald, some of your readers have referred to a large number of documents that are uncollected and ‘gathering dust’.
I am assuming that your readers are referring to a media release by the director general of the Department of Home Affairs that appeared in the previous week’s Herald. These figures relate to uncollected documents nationwide and not to the local office.
According to the media release, uncollected documents throughout South Africa are as follows: Green ID books – 75 517; ID smart cards – 195 825, and passports – 51 946. The uncollected documents at the Port Shepstone office are: Green ID books – 306; ID smart cards – 1 578, and passports – 101.
A further suggestion made by one of your readers was that applicants should be informed to collect their documents as is done in Pretoria and Johannesburg. The fact is that when a document is received at any Home Affairs office in South Africa, it is scanned on the spot and an sms is immediately sent to the applicant informing them that their document has arrived and is ready for collection.
To put the number of uncollected documents at the Port Shepstone office into perspective, it is prudent to compare these figures with the average number of applications taken in per month based on the last three month’s statistics: Green ID books – average 205 applications per month; ID smart cards – average 2 427 applications per month, and passports – average 309 applications per month.
For any further information, my office can be contacted at 039 6882700 or email uguro.ro@dha.gov.za.
TERRY KOTZE
Regional Office Manager, Port Shepstone
