Mr MC Ramaphosa
President of the Republic of South Africa
Private Bag X1000
Pretoria
0001
Dear Mr President
Crisis at Home Affairs with the collection of ID documents: urgent intervention required
1. Special voting starts on Monday and Tuesday, with the main voting day on May 29, 2024. However, hundreds of thousands of South Africans are unable to access their Identity Documents.
2. We are receiving reports from across the country indicating a pattern of Home Affairs’ systems being down since Wednesday (22 May), preventing South Africans from collecting their ID documents. The costs associated with obtaining temporary ID documents just to vote are disenfranchising these South Africans from exercising their right to vote.
3. We call on you to make serious and urgent intervention in this situation with Home Affairs for the timing of this “systems problem” raises suspicions of political expedience in favour of certain political players.
4. Home Affairs must be made to open its doors over the weekend and South Africans must be issued temporary IDs free of charge. Lastly, the nation requires a report of what has caused the system to malfunction and what steps, if any, were taken to bring the system back online and how many IDs remain uncollected at Home Affairs.
Yours sincerely
Mr Bantu Holomisa, MP
President of the United Democratic Movement
