Home Affairs launches nationwide campaign to review blocked IDs

By Charmaine Ndlela

The Department of Home Affairs has launched a nationwide campaign to assist individuals whose identity documents were blocked before November 2022, giving affected persons an opportunity to regularise their status and prevent possible cancellation of their identity numbers.

The department said the campaign forms part of efforts to protect the integrity of the National Population Register while ensuring that affected individuals are afforded a fair opportunity to explain their circumstances.

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According to Home Affairs, many identity numbers were blocked under Section 19 of the Identification Act (Act No. 68 of 1997), including records flagged as duplicates, cases requiring status verification, and other disputed registrations. To date, the department says it has successfully unblocked 2,202,368 identity numbers.

In a public notice issued in terms of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA), Home Affairs