Pongola is in northern KwaZulu-Natal, close to the Eswatini border in the Zululand district.
Border-area offices deal with cross-border matters that inland offices see rarely, including documentation for people with family across the Eswatini and Mozambican borders. Confirm what the office handles before travelling.
A child travelling across a South African border needs more than a passport. An unabridged birth certificate showing both parents is required, and where only one parent is travelling, parental consent in the prescribed form. Home Affairs publishes the requirements, and border officials apply them strictly.
This page covers how to contact the Department of Home Affairs in South Africa. The details below were taken from the official Department of Home Affairs contact page rather than from any third-party directory.
ContactDetails.co.za is an independent directory. We are not the Department of Home Affairs and cannot act on your behalf. Everything on this page is a routing aid so you reach the right official channel quickly.
The Department of Home Affairs contact numbers
These routes were verified against the official Department of Home Affairs contact page on 22 August 2026. Contact numbers do change, so confirm on the official page before relying on one for anything urgent.
| What it is for | Contact |
|---|---|
| National contact centre, toll free | 0800 60 11 90 |
| Eastern Cape provincial office, King William's Town | 043 604 6433 |
| Free State provincial office, Bloemfontein | 051 410 3901 |
| Gauteng provincial office, Braamfontein | 011 242 9002 |
| KwaZulu-Natal provincial office, Pietermaritzburg | 033 845 5038 |
| Limpopo provincial office | 015 287 2830 |
| Northern Cape provincial office, Kimberley | 053 807 6700 |
| North West provincial office | 018 397 9910 |
| Presidential Hotline | 17737 |
We publish the departmental office numbers only. Home Affairs lists named officials with personal mobile numbers on its own website; we do not republish individuals’ direct or mobile numbers, so those do not appear here. The national contact centre is the route for a service query, and it can escalate to a province.
Self-service options before you call
- Check the official site at dha.gov.za, which carries the current contact details and any online enquiry form.
- Calling outside peak times. Monday mornings and the hour after 17:00 are usually the worst for South African contact centres.
What to have ready before you call
- A clear one line summary of what you need resolved.
- Your account, order or reference number if you already have one.
- The identity document or account holder details, since most South African providers verify who you are before discussing an account.
- Dates, amounts and any error message exactly as it appeared.
- A pen and paper for the reference number. Ask for one every time, because without it a follow up call starts from nothing.
Children crossing a South African border
- An unabridged birth certificate showing both parents is required, in addition to the child’s passport.
- Where one parent travels alone, parental consent from the other parent in the prescribed form is required, together with a copy of that parent’s identity document or passport.
- Where a parent is deceased or absent, a death certificate, a court order granting full parental responsibilities, or an affidavit explaining the position is required.
- An unaccompanied minor needs more: consent from both parents, the contact details of the person receiving the child, and proof of that person’s residential address.
- Requirements are applied at the border, not at check-in. An airline may let you board and immigration may still refuse departure.
Home Affairs publishes the current requirements and they have been amended more than once. Check them shortly before travelling rather than relying on what applied on a previous trip.
Complaints and escalation
If a first call does not resolve the matter, escalate through the national contact centre with the application reference, and ask for the query to be logged rather than merely answered. An application that has passed the department’s own published turnaround time is the strongest complaint you can make, because the service delivery charter sets those times publicly.
Keep a short written log of each contact: the date, the channel you used, the name of the agent and the reference number. Most home affairs complaint processes ask for exactly that history, and having it ready is usually the difference between a fast resolution and starting over.
Avoiding fake Department of Home Affairs contact numbers
Contact details for well known South African brands are a common target for impersonation. Numbers that look official appear in search ads, social media replies and cloned websites, and the person answering is not the Department of Home Affairs.
- Reach Department of Home Affairs through the official site at dha.gov.za rather than through a number in a search advert or a social media reply.
- The Department of Home Affairs will never ask you for your full card number, PIN, CVV, online banking password or a one time PIN. Nobody legitimate needs those to help you.
- Treat any caller who creates urgency, asks you to install remote access software, or asks you to move money to a safe account as fraudulent, and end the call.
- If you are unsure whether a call was genuine, hang up and dial the official number yourself rather than calling back a number the caller gave you.
Related contact pages
Frequently asked questions
What is the Department of Home Affairs contact number?
The routes are listed in the table above, with what each one is for. The main route is 0800 60 11 90. Confirm it on dha.gov.za before relying on it, since numbers are changed from time to time.
How do I know a Department of Home Affairs number is genuine?
Check it against the official site at dha.gov.za. A number that only appears in a search advert, a social media reply or a third-party directory should not be trusted for anything involving your account, your money or your identity document.
What should I do if nobody resolves my query?
Ask for the complaint reference and the escalation path on your first call, then follow the escalation route described above. Keep the dates, agent names and reference numbers, because every formal complaint process will ask for them.
Can ContactDetails.co.za resolve this for me?
No. We are an independent directory, not the Department of Home Affairs, and we have no access to your account. Everything here is a routing aid so that you reach the correct official channel with the right information in hand.
Is there a cost to calling these numbers?
South African 0860 and 0861 numbers are charged at a share-call or standard rate depending on your provider, and 0800 numbers are toll free from a landline. Calls from a mobile are billed at your own operator’s rate, so check your plan if cost matters.
Contact routes on this page were checked against the official Department of Home Affairs source on 22 August 2026. If you find a detail that has changed, the official source is always the authority.