LIMPOPO – Rakgoale was accompanied by senior officials from the national and district offices of the Department of Home Affairs.
“We found long queues at the facility, but after interacting with the people waiting for service, we discovered the long queues had nothing to do with the capacity of the branch to deliver services to our people.
“The queues were caused by an influx of mainly elderly people who acted on a hoax message that their green barcoded IDs will be phased out as from 1 March 2018 and thus they will not be able to receive their grants,” Rakgoale said.
She used the opportunity to reassure the people who were queuing that the green barcoded IDs would only be phased out in 2021.
“We call on community leaders such as traditional leaders, councillors, ward committees to assist us in spreading this information and save our people unnecessary trips to Home Affairs, spending time and money they don’t have,” she said.
Municipal Spokesperson, Neil Shikwamabana, said the majority of people in the long queues came from the Sekororo area because the Home Affairs branch at Maruleng Thusong Centre has not been capacitated with the necessary equipment to produce smart ID cards.
“Rakgoale committed herself to work together with the Department of Home Affairs to ensure that within a month, the Maruleng Thusong Centre gets the necessary equipment to produce smart ID cards. This will drastically reduce the number of people who come to the Tzaneen branch, thereby stretching its capacity,” he said.
He added that the mayor will interact with the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) and local commercial banks to investigate allegations that people who are still in possession of the green barcoded IDs are not getting assistance.
Sassa has also issued a statement to assure social grant beneficiaries the payment cards will remain valid beyond the expiry date printed on them. People who need more information are asked to visit the nearest Sassa office or call 0800 601011.
