3.2.8 Identification Act 68 of 1997 The Identification Act 68 of 1997 (the Identification Act) applies to all persons who are citizens or permanent residents of South Africa.69 These are the two categories of people who are entered into the South African National Population Register and who are permitted to hold identity documents (IDs), referred to as ‘identity cards’ in the Act. The Act explains what kinds of information must be stored in the population register about each person (section 8) and also explains in section 7 that identity numbers shall reflect the gender and date of birth of each holder. This Act becomes useful when dealing with a client whose ID has been blocked, seized or destroyed. Sections 18 and 19 deal with the consequences of tampering with identity cards, obtaining an identity card via fraud or allowing someone else to use one's card. Section 19(4) explains that the Director-General (DG) shall, when it comes to his attention, request a person to return an identity card for cancellation if it was issued to a person who 'is not required in terms of section 3 to be included in the population register.' In other words, it provides unlimited power to the DG to cancel the IDs of people who he thinks are not citizens or permanent residents. Unfortunately, there is no accompanying regulation explaining what the DG’s standard of proof70 must be in this regard or what procedural protections must be complied with. This has led to a situation where Home Affairs officials and border officials may block IDs at the slightest suspicion that a person did not obtain it legally. 68 69 70 Legal framework on nationality and statelessness in South Africa Given the lengthy wait times for many administrative applications, PAJA allows a court to judicially review both an administrative decision as well as the failure to take a decision. Judicial review applications must be brought within 180 days of the conclusion of internal remedies, if applicable, or 180 days after the person affected was notified of the administrative action.68 If no decision was taken, and the applicant is seeking judicial review of the failure to take a decision, it seems there is no 180 day deadline. It is likely that such proceedings would need to be brought ‘without unreasonable delay.’ It can always be argued that it is in the interests of justice to allow a person to bring judicial review proceedings even if the 180 day time period has lapsed. See section 7(1) of PAJA. Section 3 of the Identification Act. Standard of proof refers to the commonly known criminal law standards of proof, such as ‘beyond a reasonable doubt.’ Promoting citizenship and preventing statelessness in South Africa: A practitioner’s guide 39