Insufficient staff turn up for work forcing over 90 percent of home affairs to not open

Insufficient staff members turning up for work on Saturday caused over 90 percent of the department of home affairs’ offices to not operate.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the department cited the settlement agreement with the unions as a reason for the low staff numbers and said it was “disappointed by these developments as they are not in line with the spirit of the agreement and the resolutions of discussions that took place up to yesterday, 23 June 2017.”

The department further apologised to the public for the inconvenience caused.

“The department is appealing to the Union Leadership to prioritise resolving this matter urgently as agreed with the Unions during negotiations,” read the statement.

“The Public Service Commission, the unions and the department believe quality service delivery to our people is of utmost importance in line with our values.”

On Friday, the department had issued a warning that some offices may on operated at “anticipated capacity” on June 24 even after arrangements had been made to operationalise the voluntary work on Saturdays. This came after a meeting on Friday between the department, PSA, Nehawu and Nupsaw.

“The unions have committed to encourage their members to avail themselves to work on Saturdays as per the settlement agreement,” the department had said.

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