Question NW748 to the Minister of Home Affairs

Reply:

a) No, according to the information on the National Population Register (NPR), Ms Shivani S Gupta, the holder of this ID number: 700510 1418 186, has never been issued with a South African passport.

However, the same person, with ID number: 700510 1418 087 has two active passports as follows:

PASSPORT NO	(a)(i) DATE OF APPLICATION	(a)(iii) DATE OF ISSUE	DATE OF EXPIRY	STATUS	(a)(ii) OFFICE OF APPLICATION
M00235637	15/11/2017	15/11/2017	14/11/2027	Active	Pretoria
M00161089	06/10/2015	14/10/2015	13/10/2025	Active	Centurion

b) Shivani Gupta has been issued with a total of two passports which are active.

NB> The passport issuance is regulated by the South African Passports and Travel Document Act, Act No 04 of 1994 and its Regulations. In terms of the Act, a person can only be issued with a South African passport if he or she is in possession of a birth certificate or an Identity document bearing the identity document number of a citizen. The Gupta family member in question who is in possession of South African passports have been issued with South African Identity documents with identity document numbers of citizens.

The Regulations 2(5) allow the Department to issue a second South African passport under circumstances listed in Regulations 8(3), 8(4) and 8(5).

The reasons for applying for a second passport, amongst others, are either the passport is full, expired or the passport is sent for visa applications. The passport application system has a facility that allows applicants to indicate the urgency of their applications.