The demand was made by residents who marched to the department’s offices in the city of Mbombela, as they demanded the restoration of their IDs, which they claim been blocked since 2007.

The protesters claim they have been wrongly labelled as foreign nationals and accused of unlawfully obtaining their documents.
Despite a court ruling to unblock such IDs six years ago, over 500 individuals are reportedly still affected by the issue. Bushbuckridge resident Eddie Mathebula says he noticed the issue when he applied for a certificate for his business in 2019.

“When I went there, I found that my ID is blocked. So, I tried to ask as to what is the reason, why the ID was blocked? So, they told me that maybe you are a foreigner or whatsoever. So, I asked what is needed from me to unblock the ID? They’ve sent me everywhere I was supposed to go to collect all those documents they needed at Home Affairs. I brought them, nothing happened. So that is the problem. It shows that it is not only because of those things that are needed by Home Affairs, there is something behind that we don’t know. That is why today we are here,” Mathebula said.

Meanwhile, the Progressive Civics Congress which marched in solidarity with the aggrieved residents called on the department to respect the courts. The organisation’s national organiser, Johan Sibiya says the Home Affairs Department has ruined the lives of the affected people.

“They can’t even open their bank accounts, their bank accounts are frozen, and everything is not working. Even their kids can’t even get a birth certificate. So, we are saying to Home Affairs and we are saying to South Africa, if they respect the law, there is a court order. Into that court order, it says the IDs must be unblocked. So, they must unblock the IDs so that these people can now start working because their lives are so difficult now. Each one of them is voting. Where are their votes going to, what is happening with their votes if they are allowed to vote and they are not allowed to use their IDs,” Sibiya said.

--SABC--