VICTIMS OF BLOCKED IDs SHUT DOWN HOME AFFAIRS

Victims of block ID protest at Home Affairs in Pretoria photo by Dimakatso Modipa

Victims of blocked Identity Documents shut down three Department of Home Affairs buildings in Tshwane on Monday.

This in demand for their Identity Documents to be unblocked with immediate effect.

Hundreds of young and old people alike painted the Pretoria CBD red in anger as they closed one Home Affairs building after another.

Traffic came to a standstill and motorists had to use alternative routes to get to their destinations.

The protestors held their IDs, which have been rendered useless by Home Affairs, aloft as they demanded that the said IDs be unblocked so that they can start using them like before.

The march was organised by Soil of Africa civic movement in collaboration with Aikhomaneni Afrika NPO.

The protesters spent three hours waiting for Home Affairs officials to come and address them regarding their concerns.

At the selfsame protest march, Home Affairs Deputy Director of Civic Services Thomas Sigama denied allegations that Home Affairs Director Baba had asked Soil of Africa chairperson Bongani Ramontja to align his organisation with the ANC so that the blocked Identity Documents of the victims can be unblocked quickly by Home Affairs.

“I don’t know anything about those allegations but I can tell you they are not true because as a government entity we are not affiliated to any political party; we are administrators of the government and Baba did outline the process that must be followed when resolving ID issues, and anyone who qualifies to have an ID must come forward with such a document so that we can evaluate them,” said Sigama.