‘Home Affairs system offline’: Here’s how the department plans to address long queues, outages

The Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber said the Department of Home Affairs, in collaboration with the State Information Technology Agency (Sita), is working on a project to replace cooper-based network services in an effort to create reliable connections.

Responding to a parliamentary question posed by Patriotic Alliance (MP) Jasmine Peterson, Schreiber said this move aimed to minimise downtime caused by vandalism and technical issues.

Addressing challenges in rural and township communities

Schreiber acknowledged the challenges faced by branches in rural and township communities, including interruptions, network issues, long queues, and extended waiting periods.

The issue of long queues at Home Affairs offices has been a struggle that many have had to face for many years.

Yearly, or even monthly, citizens have continued to complain about the long lines, which have become a norm that has been tuned into hunour by some on social media.

It's fuxking ridiculous that South Africans must wake up @ 04H00 to go stand in line at Home Affairs,in 2022??! Its 07H18 and the line goes all around the parking lot and out the gate. They only open at 08H00?

— Ndon'Yamanzi 👑 (@bonie_mchunu) July 14, 2022

Fix home affairs first and give South Africans what they need first. We can’t even get an ID without standing in a queue for 8 hours 🤬

— Trinity (@angeltracey19) September 4, 2024

At home affairs to collect my ID and there's such a long queue 😏,not impressed at all!

— keaorata (@KeaSetlhare) August 30, 2024

He attributed these issues to diginet link failures and vowed to address them through the ongoing project.

According to him, phase one of the department’s collaboration with Sita, set to conclude in the 2024/25 financial year, has already replaced diginet at nine offices, with 35 more offices to follow.

“Phase two, which will be implemented during the next financial year covers 22 offices,” said Schreiber.

ALSO READ: ‘Institutional vandalism’ crippled departments, says Home Affairs’ Schreiber

Combating corruption and unethical syndicates

Schreiber also responded to concerns about corruption and unethical syndicates within the department.

He stated that the department identifies syndicate activities through reported cases, investigations, and data analysis.

“The department is committed to rooting out fraud and corruption and as a result, the Branch: Counter Corruption and Security Services continues to reinforce collaborative efforts with law enforcement agencies through regular engagements and projects,” Schreiber said.

The minister said there were collaborative efforts with law enforcement agencies and disciplinary action against employees involved in fraud and corruption.

“If investigations necessitate suspension, employees are suspended or precautionary transferred to a less risky environment while investigations proceed.”

ALSO READ: EFF says Home Affairs failures force foreigners to turn to crime

Introducing a paperless system and secure platform

The minister announced plans to introduce a paperless system, similar to the online portal used by South African Revenue Service (Sars) and banks, to reduce queues and waiting periods.

Schreiber previously said manual paperwork left room for corruption and slow processing times. He said digitising the department would radically transform the meaning of government in the country.

Additionally, he said a safe platform utilising facial and fingerprint recognition tools will be established to enhance security and efficiency.

While Schreiber promised the end of an era for the inconsistencies and incompetencies of Home Affairs, MyBroadband revealed that , the online system used by Home Affairs could partly operate during times of downtime.

It said workers at Home Affairs offices blew the issue out of proportion when they refused to help people.