Some may not have to pay for new ID
Certain categories of people may not have to pay the R140 fee for the new smart ID cards.
Home Affairs and Finance Ministers, Naledi Pandor and Pravin Gordhan, say they are still deciding whether or not to waive the fee.
Manny de Freitas, DA spokesperson, says that the DA is concerned that the costs associated with the replacement of green bar-coded ID books with smart ID cards will place an unnecessary financial strain on South Africa’s poorest citizens.
“During a Home Affairs Portfolio Committee meeting, last week, the Department of Home Affairs Director-General, Mkuseli Apleni, confirmed that all South Africans would have to pay R140 to have their green bar-coded ID books replaced with the new Smart IDs.”
He adds that in a reply to a parliamentary question Pandor indicated that she is in discussions with the National Treasury, with the view to waiving this fee for those who cannot afford it.
“The DA will submit further parliamentary questions to both Gordhan and Pandor for an update on these discussions,” says de Freitas.
He adds that for many South Africans R140 is the difference between survival and starvation.
“Imposing a new ID system on South Africa’s citizens and then forcing them to pay for it puts a price on citizenship that not everyone can afford, and will exclude them from the employment market, as well as electoral and social security processes once green bar-coded ID books are phased out.”
The DA will monitor the roll-out of smart IDs closely and do everything in its power to ensure that all South Africans have the necessary documentation to access services.
The process of rolling out the new system will take a few years and the public is advised to wait to be invited to apply, in accordance with their dates of birth.
We did not ask the government to bring in the new ID card system, if they want us to have one they can also pay for it, It is also probably something that will have to be renewed every 5 years, (like the nee firearm licence, driving licence), even if it is not, this is just another scheme in which the government wants to steal our money. Like ludicrous petrol prices, e-tolling …
I can not believe we are allowing them to keep on milking us like this.