Check if you're alive
2009-03-23 22:20
Cape Town - Home Affairs on Monday launched its Alive Status Verification Self-Help Service, allowing South Africans to find out whether they are officially dead or alive.
"The purpose of the service is assist South Africans to check their status to ensure that they have not been fraudulently declared dead on the population register," the department said in a statement.
It did not elaborate on why anyone would be fraudulently declared dead.
"Clients are advised to use either the department's website, or SMS, to verify their alive or deceased status.
"Using the SMS service, clients can type in the letter L, followed by the ID number, to 32551. A reply SMS will then be sent back confirming status as either alive or deceased.
"Each SMS costs R1 charged by the client's network service provider."
The department said people could also determine their status by phoning its call centre on 0800-60-11-90.
Those who got a message back telling them they were officially "deceased" would need to visit a police station.
"They must report to a local home affairs office with an affidavit, obtained from a police station, confirming that they are alive.
"The department... will, on submission of an affidavit as proof of their alive status, ask the complainant to fill in a form and take a full set of fingerprints.
"[It will then] investigate how the client was declared dead on the system, and will report back within a few weeks to the client on the outcome of its investigation," home affairs said.
- SAPA