Government

Good news for smart IDs and passports in South Africa – just don’t wait

Luke Fraser

 ·4 Aug 2023

Home Affairs is opening seven offices on Saturday, 5 August 2023, which will provide services to people who can’t visit a branch on weekdays.

The offices will be open from 08h00 to 13h00, allowing for the collection of smart ID cards and passports services.

The following seven offices will be open tomorrow for collection:

• Home Affairs Menlyn (Menlyn Park Shopping Centre, Pretoria, Gauteng)
• Soweto: Orlando Branch (11902 Kumalo Main Rd & Armitage St, Orlando West, Soweto, Gauteng)
• Germiston Office (President Street & FH Odendaal Street, Germiston, Gauteng)
• Atamelang District Office (1093b Main Street, Golf View, Mafikeng, North West)
• Zeerust Office (48B Church Street, Zeerust, North West)
• De Aar Office (47 Voortrekker St, De Aar, Northern Cape)
• Colesburg Office (Corner Chamberlain & Church Street, Thusong Centre, Colesberg, Northern Cape)

“We encourage clients to take advantage of the extended hours on Saturdays to collect documents they have applied for and not wait for the last minute,” the department said.

“It remains a great concern that over 500,000 smart ID cards are still to be collected in Home Affairs offices across the country.”

Easier process

The department has recently launched several initiatives that make applying for and collecting smart ID cards and passports easier.

Home Affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi recently approved a temporary extension of operating hours at from offices by two hours from 08h00 to 17h30.

The extension applies to nearly 200 modernised Live Capture offices that process smart ID cards and passports and started on 27 July 2023.

“The department usually receives a higher volume of applications during school holidays. To meet the demand during this period, we have extended operating hours,” Motsoaledi said.

In addition, the department said that it is interested in expanding its services to more bank branches across the country.

There are 27 bank branches where South African-born citizens can renew their passports or smart IDs.

The pilot programme will be in effect until September 2023, despite being initially scheduled to end in July 2022.

A breakdown of which banks provide smart ID and passport services is below:

• Standard Bank — 9
• FNB — 7
• Nedbank — 5
• Absa — 4
• Discovery Bank — 1
• Investec — 1

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