There has to be a better way
JOBURG - Last week the Randburg Licensing Department closed early because the building did not have any water.
When customers tried to find out why they could no longer be assisted with their documents, they were told that people had been using the bathrooms without water, and as a result, the building stank.
Surely, a bit of foresight could have prevented the department from closing early? A simple sign outside the toilets that said ‘out of order’ or locking the doors would surely have prevented the building from smelling like a sewer.
Talking to people who were queuing for document renewals at the Marlboro Licensing Department, one got the sense that they had simply accepted that things were never going to go as planned when dealing with this governmental department. They were resigned to the fact that they needed to take the day off to sort out their documentation – because there is no such thing as ‘quickly nipping out to sort something out’.
The sad thing is that while the licensing department is in a shambles, some other government departments work well.
Why is it that police stations, libraries, many hospitals (but not all) and other departments which also deal with many South Africans on a daily basis are able to get it right, but the licensing department cannot?
When visiting, nothing seems to make sense. At the information desk, a man writes numbers on application forms, which inform customers where they should stand in the queue. But because people interrupt him and ask him questions, he constantly gets distracted and has to run to the back of the line to see what the last number he wrote was.
There must be a better way. A way that makes sense, makes things move quickly and improves the efficiency of these departments. Something as simple as not being able to pay using a debit card – when we are meant to be living in a ‘world class African city’ – seems ludicrous, and having to wait in a queue for three-and-a-half hours, is a joke.
I do not accept that this is how things are meant to be. If police stations and hospitals are able to find a system that works [albeit these systems are not perfect] surely the licensing department should be re-evaluating its systems and finding new and better solutions.
