A third option for recording gender with the Department of Home Affairs is welcome, but needs to be available to anyone who would like to use it for whatever reason.
This was the sentiment of activists, academics and legal experts who engaged with the department’s director, Sihle Mthiyane, about its proposed identity management policy. The virtual discussion was hosted by Iranti, a media advocacy organisation defending the rights of lesbian, intersex and transgender persons in Africa.
In December 2020, the Department of Home Affairs gazetted a draft official identity management policy document for public comment. The changes affect the registration of births and deaths, biometric data, digitisation and also the way sex is recorded by the department.
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Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs has expressed its disappointment in the failure of the department to resolve its constant IT problems.
The committee held meetings on Tuesday (26 January) that included a briefing from the department on its annual report for the financial year 2019-20, and a briefing from the Auditor-General of South Africa on the audit outcomes of the annual report for the financial year 2019-20.
While the Department of Home Affairs achieved many of its targets, the consistent failure of IT systems and resultant long queues have proven to be a major problem for a number of years.
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Governmentâs proposal to amend laws to include third gender welcomed
By Tshego Lepule
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Cape Town - A move by the government to try to amend the countryâs identity laws to include a third gender has been welcomed by those who have been discriminated against by outdated legislation.
This comes after the Department of Home Affairs published a draft Official Identity Management Policy (OIMP) that seeks to update and amend the countryâs identity laws after 20 years.
The proposals range from amending outdated legislation and strengthening controls to guard against identity theft as well as recognising other sex/gender categories.