It will be exactly 27 years after gaining independence that Namibia will finally phase out the usage and presence of the old South West Africa/Namibia identification document (ID).
At least 70 000 Namibians still use what is known as the old South West Africa (SWA) ID but the Home Affairs and Immigration Ministry is giving people until March 31 next year to get the new version of the national document.
This, the ministry says, is being motivated by the drive to adapt to international best practices that encourage that only one type of legal ID be used within a given national territory.
Furthermore, Home Affairs and Immigration Minister Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana is of the opinion that many of the old IDs contain wrong particulars.
She explained that the phasing-out exercise would provide an opportunity for the affected people to rectify their particulars.
She then made a call on Namibian citizens and permanent residents who still use the old SWA/Namibia ID to apply for new a new Namibian ID as soon as possible.
This process will be conducted under the Civil Registration Department, which will receive more than N$186 million also to manage the National Population Register.
Iivula-Ithana said that the department will continue to lead the implementation of the Vital Statistics (CRVs) Strategy together with the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA), and stakeholders are meeting regularly to report on the progress made.