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South Africa closes Home Affairs department

25 November 2015

From 27 November to 2 December people would not be able to submit identity document (ID) and passport applications, the Department of Home Affairs announced, as it would be installing upgrades to improve its services.

The upgrades, on the Live Capture system, will take place at all 140 Home Affairs offices in South Africa. Upgrading the Live Capture system facilities should be seen in the context of the department's drive to improve processes for Smart ID card and passport applications, it said.

His department had already issued public notices to announce a system upgrade and the affected sites, Home Affairs director-general Mkhuseli Apleni told journalists in Pretoria on 20 November.

"During the upgrade, the affected offices will not be able to receive applications using the Live Capture system. For our staff, especially supervisors, this means working overtime on Sunday, 29 November, for a successful upgrade and a speedy recovery to normal services as planned."

Full Home Affairs services will resume on 3 December.

Apleni also called on all those who had already applied for their Smart ID cards and passports to collect them. Up to 95 825 Smart ID cards, 75 517 green bar-coded ID books and 51 946 passports have not been collected by the applicants.

Source: South African Government News Agency