Cape Town — The High Court of South Africa recently ruled that the blocking of Identification Documents (IDs) by the Department of Home Affairs as unconstitutional.
The court emphasised that the practice of blocking of IDs by the Department of Home Affairs without notice, timeous investigation and appeal processes, has been declared unconstitutional. The applicants argued that hundreds of people had complained of their IDs being blocked without prior notice and with no reasons given, News24 reported.
High Court Judge Elmarie van der Schyff said the Home Affairs director-general has a responsibility to protect the integrity of the national population register by “placing a marker” against any suspicious ID, however, blocking someone’s ID without following any just administrative procedure “constitutes a mischief”.
📢 BREAKING! The High Court has declared the @HomeAffairsSA practice of #IDblocking to be unjust & irregular, inconsistent with the Constitution & invalid! 🎉
More info to follow. Get the judgment from our website: https://t.co/ZJOWu1bri7@UPChildLaw @legalwiseZA @CIatUCT pic.twitter.com/N3nf8Pebf0
— Lawyers for Human Rights (@LHR_SA) January 16, 2024
During the litigation, and relatively close to the trial date, the respondents conceded that blocking IDs without a fair and just administrative process was inconsistent with the Constitution.
The court also said Home Affairs may not prevent a child’s birth from being registered because their parent’s ID is under investigation. In these circumstances, Home Affairs must register the child’s birth as a citizen or permanent resident and give the child an ID number.
According to Lawyers for Human Rights, they sought relief from the court against the unconstitutional process, SABC News reported.
The Department of Home Affairs uses unsubstantiated suspicions and executes actions without proper communication or investigation, treating individuals as guilty before the due process, Human Rights lawyer Thandie Chauke, said.
“This is what the court order is now prescribing, a process that follows what informs the department to do, which is to notify people, to give them proper reasons as to why you think there’s something wrong with the ID before blocking it and to give them an opportunity to respond to those allegations before blocking the ID,” Chauke said.
The Pretoria High Court has declared the blocking of IDs by the Department of Home Affairs unjust. Lawyers For Human Rights’ Thandeka Chauke explains the matter and the department’s objections.
Watch: https://t.co/h29dodJqle
#Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/x9cfeF4uem— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) January 17, 2024
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
