Home Affairs helps blind update IDs

Department of Home Affairs mobile units visited the Cape Town Society for the Blind in Salt River on Wednesday last week so that officials could help the organisation’s members update their green ID books to the new ID cards.

The society’s awareness officer, Sergil January, who is blind, thanked the department for providing the assistance, saying: “I am happy not having to travel early in the morning and depending on family or friends to accompany me.”

Department official Craig Steenberg said they provided the mobile ID services to various institutions, including homes for the intellectually and physically disabled, schools in poor areas and seniors’ homes.

“Sometimes people may not have the means to get to the department, so it brings us great joy to help a broad spectrum of people with our services,” he said.

The society’s CEO, Judith Coetzee, said the initiative showed how government and community partnerships could make a difference in the lives of the blind and visually impaired.