Mobile units means easier access
A brand new Home Affairs Office and a hundred mobile units were handed over in Mokopane by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday, 7 May.
This is part of the Home Affairs on Wheels programme, aimed at ensuring better access to Home Affairs services across South Africa.
During his speech, President Ramaphosa said that they don’t just want to make it easier to obtain services at Home Affairs offices, but also quicker and cheaper. “For many people, especially in the rural areas, traveling to reach government services takes a lot of time and is expensive. With these mobile offices, you don’t have to spend a lot of money on transport to go into town to apply for services,” he said.
The 100 mobile units are in addition to the twenty units that were rolled out last year and the department plans to roll out at least a hundred units every year until they reach a total of a thousand across the country. The units are fully equipped and will be fully connected wherever they are situated, even in rural areas.
According to Pres Ramaphosa, the mobile offices won’t move constantly around the provinces but will be stationary and available in a village or town so that people know where to go.
“We are planning to take these mobile offices to schools so that learners who need the services don’t have to take days off school,” he said.
The department will soon unveil a kiosk model that allows one to access services similar to withdrawing money at an ATM. This will enable people to easily applying for replacement copies of a birth, marriage or death certificate. One will also be able to use the kiosk to apply for a passport or a smart ID card.
According to the department, birth registration will in future be done in the maternity wards where the babies are born.
