‘Who am I?’ you ask … ‘We’re not sure’, Home Affairs answers
Home Affairs is the undisputed custodian of identity, but it has stated that it cannot efficiently and securely deliver identity services
For any country, it is important that a government has systems in place. For every person, the state needs to know, among other things, name, date and place of birth; nationality; whether the person is alive or dead, married or single and the details of their children. Neither the state nor society in general can function if individual identities are unknown. The Department of Home Affairs is the undisputed custodian of identity. However, identity must be managed within the framework of the Constitution, and the human rights of citizens must be respected and protected. It has been argued that there is a level of re-alignment required in SA when it comes to identity and immigration services. The Department of Home Affairs has stated that as presently constituted, it is not able to efficiently, securely and strategically deliver identity and immigration services. Therefore, plans are under way to put in place a comprehensive and secure national identity system. As citizens, we should ...
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