Boost for Smart IDs and passports in South Africa
The Department of Home Affairs is continuing to open selected offices on Saturdays to increase access to services, mainly for clients who are unable to visit their offices on weekdays.
The extended service is applicable to certain offices. This Saturday, 12 August 2023, the following offices will be open from 08h00 to 13h00:
- The new Home Affairs Menlyn (Menlyn Park Shopping Centre, Pretoria, Gauteng);
- Mmabatho Office (Motswedi House, Dr James Moroka Dr, Montshiwa Unit 2, North West)
- Mankwe Office (3, Mogwase Complex, Station Road, Mogwase, North West).
Continued boost
The department said that it will continue to keep select offices open and will communicate when other offices will be operating on various Saturdays.
“We encourage clients to take advantage of the extended hours on Saturdays to collect documents they have applied for,” the department said.
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
Read: FNB looking to expand Smart ID and passport branches in South Africa
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