The Ministry of Home Affairs has extended time for return of traditional machine readable passports from March 31, 2019 to February 2020.
This, is according to the statement made by the Minister of Home Affairs, Mr. Mokoto Hloaele.
The statement states that time has been extended again due to current problems and challenges facing the Ministry.
It adds that the Ministry called on members of the public to stop the usage of machine readable passport last year, which begin with the number RA, RB, SA and DA.
Meanwhile, a notice placed on the gate at the Ministry’s headquarters, indicates that passport applications are paused until further notice due to machinery maintenance.
Reports shows that over 40,000 people received services for e-passports since the Ministry requested those who were using traditional machine readable passports.
The e-passport was introduced in the country in 2013. It bears the bio-metric details of the bearer, including their fingerprints or the iris, which are all features unique to an individual.
Source: LENA 25/03/2019