Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
One-way ticket home offer
Minister reaches out to stranded citizens
HOME Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has offered South Africans stuck abroad a one-way ticket home after their passports expired.
The minister also revealed that his department was sitting with 300 000 identity documents that have not been collected by South Africans.
The decision by Motsoaledi on South Africans abroad comes after some opposition parties had complained that the government needed to help people whose passports have expired.
But the minister said they cannot grant the passports to people stuck abroad because the rules of the International Civil Aviation Authority do not allow this, to prevent fraud.
He said the only solution was for the government to offer those South Africans a one-way ticket home through the emergency passport. He said if people wanted to apply for passports overseas it takes time, unlike when they do it here.
Motsoaledi said they had received complaints from people and MPs about individuals whose passports have expired.
“The rules that govern passports are not the rules of Home Affairs,” he said, adding that the rules were governed by the International Civil Aviation Authority.
“According to their rules the passport cannot be extended. If you are stuck overseas and you want to come to South Africa you are given a oneway temporary passport. We cannot, as some have asked, extend a passport.”
The minister appealed to the 300 000 South Africans to collect their IDs from Home Affairs offices now that the restrictions have eased. Motsoaledi also said they had been told by the Department of Basic Education that there were more than 637 000 pupils who did not have IDs.
Some would need the IDs for their matric examinations.
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Njabulo Nzuza, said they were working with the Department of Basic Education for the learners to apply and obtain their IDs.
He said so far their programme had helped to ensure 62 000 learners get their IDs.
“It’s important that learners spend their time at school rather than anywhere else. We cannot afford to have learners going to our offices to get IDs,” said Nzuza. He added that they go to the learners, using mobile units, to register them for their documents.