The Department of Home Affairs is urging holders of green identity document (ID) books to switch to smart IDs as a safeguard against identity theft. This initiative is part of the department’s ongoing efforts to address long-standing issues of wrongfully blocked IDs and to reduce the circulation of fraudulent IDs.
Recently, the department issued a call to South Africans with blocked IDs, asking them to submit written reasons within 30 days explaining why their IDs should not be cancelled.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber stated, “We’ve provided an opportunity for South Africans with blocked IDs to approach the Department of Home Affairs. If your ID has been wrongfully blocked, we will verify the information, and if it is found to be blocked in error, it will be released.”
Schreiber also highlighted that some blocked IDs result from fraud. “However, many of these blocked IDs are indeed the product of fraud, which poses a security risk to the country. We urge anyone with a blocked ID to come forward so we can distinguish between those that should be unblocked and those that are genuine security risks. IDs deemed security risks will be cancelled going forward.”
For any inquiries, please contact the Home Affairs Call Centre (HACC) at 0800 60 11 90 or email hacc@dha.gov.za. Office Hours: Monday to Friday: 8:00 to 15:30, every last Wednesday of the month: 9:00 to 15:30
