End of the road for multiple IDs

Written by Samona Murugan

Time is running out for South Africans who have duplicate identity documents (IDs).

If you share your identity number with somebody else or you have more than one ID number, you will not be able to use your ID from January 2014.

According to the Department of Home Affairs more than 40 000 South African’s IDs have been duplicated.

The department’s Director-General Mkuseli Apleni warned: “It is illegal for a person to share an ID with another or have multiple IDs.

”If you are one of those affected, you will not be able to open accounts, apply for a driver’s licence or do banking from 31 December 2013, when all ID numbers that are duplicates will be cancelled.”

If your identity document has been duplicated, visit your nearest Home Affairs office urgently to rectify it.

To find out if you have a duplicate ID, check your name on the Government Gazette or SMS the letter ‘D’ followed by your ID number to 32551. You can also visit the Home Affairs website www.dha.gov.za and follow the link ‘duplicate’ or call the toll free number 0800 601 190.