FW de Klerk Foundation encouraged by Home Affairs clearing Identity Document backlog

1 October 2024

The FW de Klerk Foundation commends the Department of Home Affairs on its success in clearing the significant backlog of 247 500 identity document applications within just one month. “This remarkable achievement demonstrates the Department's commitment to efficient service delivery and addressing the critical need for identity documents among South African citizens,” states Christo van der Rheede, the Foundation’s Executive Director.

“The Foundation earlier this year in its Human Rights Report Card, pointed out that many children’s rights to a name and a nationality from birth and citizenship (sections 28(1)(a)) and 20 of the Constitution respectively) were being infringed due to the Department’s backlog of birth registrations that resulted in approximately 258 000 children being undocumented in South Africa in 2023,” says Daniela Ellerbeck, an attorney and the FW de Klerk Foundation’s Constitutional Rights Programmes Manager.

The FW de Klerk Foundation encourages the Department to continue its efforts to clear all backlogs, especially, the birth registrations backlog that affects children. The Foundation believes the Department’s remarkable achievement demonstrates its potential for positive change and enhancing service delivery. The Foundation looks forward to further progress, particularly in the digital transformation of Home Affairs.

Issued by FW de Klerk Foundation, 1 October 2024