Elderly couple`s Home Affairs shock

Source: Dispatch Live, 07/10/2016

When A Gonubie couple made the trip to the Home Affairs building about
two months ago, they thought applying for new smartcard IDs would be a
cinch.


After all, they were both in possession of South African ID books and
had renewed these without fuss when they lived in Gauteng.


Sandra Mathieson, 65, said she and husband Roy Greenop, 69, are
pensioners and "thought it would be a good idea to get one".


"The gentleman at the desk at Home Affairs was very helpful, but said
we could not apply because we are not South African citizens.


He said this regulation came from Pretoria," Mathieson said.


Mathieson emigrated from Scotland to South Africa in 1982 and is an
ID-carrying permanent resident.


Her husband Roy Greenop, 69, is a naturalised South African citizen,
having moved to this country from Zimbabwe when he was 18.


Mathieson said she had e-mailed Pretoria head office to obtain clarity
but received no response.


"I also called the helpline but they were jammed up and no one answers
when you call Home Affairs in East London, so going to the Dispatch
was the last resort."


National Home Affairs spokesman Mayihlome Tshwete confirmed that
smartcard IDs are not available yet for people not born in South
Africa.


He said the reason for this was that many green identity books
belonging to foreign-born residents had been obtained fraudulently.
"In the past when systems [at the home affairs department] were lax,
people could bribe or somehow get their documents fraudulently,"
Tshwete said.


"The smartcard IDs are only for those born in South Africa until we
can clear up all the fraudulent ID documents. Some of the IDs were not
verified with the national population register and are not
legitimately in the system."


However, he said that those affected could continue to use their green
identity books indefinitely.


"They won`t wake up one day with invalid ID books and they have no
need to panic. The department has not determined a date for this yet –
we still have to get 30million-odd South Africans onto smartcards.


"No one will be left out of the system and at some point there will be
a call for non-South African-born citizens to come forward [to
apply]."


Tshwete added that an online application system for new smartcard IDs
would be rolled out countrywide from next year.