Home Affairs pleased with turnout at its offices following Voter Registration Weekend

The Department of Home Affairs says it is pleased with how the voter registration weekend went, especially at its offices which saw the extension of operating hours.

PHOTO: Department of Home Affairs

More than 33 500 people in its offices and 105 mobile units that were deployed in the first two days of the service delivery blitz were assisted during the Voter Registration Weekend.

In a statement, Deputy Home Affairs Minister, Njabulo Nzuza, says the majority of people (more than 25 700), visited offices on Saturday,and nearly 7 900 visited during the two additional operating hours from 16:00 to 18:00 on Friday.

‘’The overwhelming public response led to two offices and four mobile units operating beyond 17:00 in the Eastern Cape. One office in the Western Cape operated beyond the closing time while there were three offices and two mobile units that did the same in Mpumalanga. In Gauteng, four offices operated beyond 17:00 while one office did in KwaZulu-Natal.’’

Nzuza says over the past two days, nearly 23 400 people came to collect their IDs. Another 9 100, mostly first-time applicants, came to apply for IDs. More than 920 people applied for and received their Temporary Identification Certificates on the spot.

He added that there were 148 people who were referred by the Independent Electoral Commission to Home Affairs to update their status on the Voters’ Roll. People who came to collect their passports were also assisted.

“We continue to encourage first-time applicants to come and collect their documents. Home Affairs takes up to 13 working days to deliver an ID from the day of application. Therefore, if it has been more than two weeks since you applied, please come back and collect your ID,” said Deputy Minister Mr Njabulo Nzuza.

‘’The Department has set up dedicated queues for collection in offices that have space for such, to make the collection process faster,’’ he added.

 

Done By: Mitchum George