"We have tightened our security and computerised systems at all our branches to ensure the passports that are being issued cannot be duplicated by anyone", Mr Apleni said.
He said it was plausible to issue the new passport within the next 12 months to all passport holders. Mr Apleni said this was a vital step in reopening negotiations with the UK home office regarding the lifting of a UK visa requirement on South African passport holders.
Two years ago the UK revoked the privilege of allowing South Africans to travel to that country for up to six months without a visa after investigations in the UK revealed that foreign syndicates were using SA as a base to enter the UK illegally by fraudulently obtaining South African travel documents.
South Africa's passports had become one of the most abused travel documents detected at UK border posts. The UK instituted the visa requirement after years of warnings that South Africa's passports were not secure and that the Department of Home Affairs should address the problem.
While the department made progress in dealing with the security of passports, it could not meet the UK's six-month deadline in 2008, and was not likely to do so soon. At the time the UK imposed the visa regime, Russ Dixon, spokesperson for the British high commission, said while there would be an opportunity to review the visa regime in time, the UK was committed to continuing with it for the near future.
The ban has affected business travellers, especially those who travel to the UK often. South Africans now even need a transit visa when travelling to other European Union countries via the UK, making travelling more expensive.
Mr Apleni was speaking in Pretoria at the launch of a campaign with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to encourage voters to apply for identity documents in preparation for local elections this year.
The department will extend its working hours during the voter registration weekend in February to accommodate new identity document applicants for the local elections. Staff will be seconded to flood-ravaged areas to assist citizens to apply for identity documents that may have been lost.
The department has made 117 mobile offices available to assist citizens in rural areas to obtain identity documents. But there were hundreds of thousands of unclaimed identity documents at home affairs offices.
"Of serious concern to the department is that our offices across the country have at this stage a total of 767 889 unclaimed identity documents. Unless these documents are claimed, owners will not be able to exercise their democratic right to vote," Mr Apleni said.
The department will keep the documents for 12 months after which they will be destroyed. Mosotho Moepya, the IEC's deputy CE for electoral operations, said the organisation was prepared for the voter registration weekend. Staff had been trained in the technology used to register voters.
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Quelle/Source: iAfrica Business, 28.01.2011
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