Citizens who had applied for their smart identification (ID) cards or passports at certain banks before the lockdown was implemented in March, will now be able to collect those documents from the banks on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has announced.
During a media briefing to outline the additional home affairs services which resumed as part of Alert Level 2 of the lockdown, Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi further said the eHomeAffairs portal would remain deactivated as new applications are still not accepted in the current level of the lockdown.
“During each lockdown level, we analyse the numbers of people who normally visit our offices and determine which services we can offer safely. At all times, we aim to protect the lives of our employees and citizens while ensuring access to essential services.
"In reality, the pandemic is still with us and we want to keep the numbers of people who could be exposed to the virus in our offices to a bare minimum,” he commented.
He also pointed out that the DHA had assisted more than 1.6-million people with necessary documents between March 26 and August 21.
"Our committed and dedicated staff assisted more than 1.6-million people who visited our offices with crucial enabling documents that include the re-issue of replacement birth certificates, death registrations, temporary ID certificates, birth registrations and passports, mostly for people involved in essential services.
"Even when the world paused during Level 5 of the lockdown, Home Affairs didn't. We couldn't. Our people needed our services to adjust to the new normal. We kept going within the limitations caused by the Covid 19 regulations,” he said.