0 comments
0 viewsORT SA thrives on helping people to become self-sustaining and independent. For this reason their Skills Development department runs projects that help the youth to gain a qualification with experience. During registration many of the learners were found to be lacking a South African Identity Book, despite being over the age of 16. Staff from the Department of Home Affairs in Wynberg have moved ORT SA learners one step closer to becoming independent.
A lot of learners could only provide their birth certificates, opposed to their ID books, during project registration, says Louise Bick, ORT SA Skills Development Coordinator and Trainer. “We realised that this was an area where we could really add value, we then contacted Wynberg Home Affairs regarding their ID Ur-Self Now campaign”.
One’s ID Book is essential for everything from registering for Matric exams to applying for a job, driver’s license or passport. The aim of the “ID Ur-Self Now” campaign is to “motivate young people – especially the 16 year olds in or out of school – to apply for their IDs”.
Martin Ramogale and Smangaliso Nzimande from the Department of Home Affairs in Wynberg have offered their services to ORT SA’s Geared for Life, Geared for Life Too and Educator Assistant learners. They have met up with ORT SA learners periodically at different schools where mobile ID book stations were created for learners to fill in forms and have their finger prints and photographs taken.
Ramogale and Nzimande, along with Domenic Mulaudzi, recently assisted 30 Geared for Life Too learners in Alexandra Township. They assisted the learners with great efficiency and were “so passionate” says Bick. The Geared for Life Too learners were so enthusiastic and proud to apply for their South African ID Book. The Learners only had to pay R15 for their two ID photographs.
ORT SA is delighted with the initiative and the support they have received from the Department of Home Affairs, “this is a huge step to helping our learners to become independent”, says Tracy Mayhew Skills Development HOD.