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ActionSA remains deeply concerned with the inefficiencies at the Department of Home Affairs with regard to the backlog where the issuance of smart card IDs is concerned, more so during an election year where universal suffrage is a right enshrined within our Constitution. 

The Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, stated in a Parliamentary Question and Answer Session in November last year that there are well over 500 000 uncollected ID smartcards nationwide. One of the primary drivers of this staggering figure is system downtime within the Department. The structural inefficiencies within the Department are a significant cause for concern, no doubt because we are in a seminal election year.

Operationally, the Department's branches were down for a combined 15 289 hours between the months of April and May 2023, while for the half year, the figure rises to 36 000 hours, with 57% of this due to system downtime. This is a scathing indictment of the country's apex document management body and thus calls for a swift review of the glaring operational deficiencies. 

Additionally, the DHA is yet to unblock more than 700 000 IDs despite this practice being declared "unconstitutional and ignoring the jurisprudential value of ubuntu", which is negatively impacting mothers from registering their children's births and securing official identification for their children when they come of age.

ActionSA implores the Department, the Minister, and his management team to see to it that this is speedily resolved and that qualifying citizens are not deprived of the right to official documentation that empowers them to live dignified lives.

Issued by ActionSA FixSA Member: Home Affairs Lerato Ngobeni