Government claims long queues at Home Affairs will soon be ‘thing of the past’

Waking at 3am just to secure a spot somewhere in the front of the queue at one of South Africa’s Home Affairs offices will soon be a thing of the past, according to the Department of Home Affairs.

The department said it is working to eliminate the terrible experience that many citizens have had to endure throughout the years.

But, it has yet to reveal a detailed strategy on how it plans to do this.

The issue of the long queues was brought to the fore last week, when a delegation from the department, led by Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Njabulo Nzuza, presented the department’s annual performance plan to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs. According to a government statement, it was here that the committee members questioned the department about the problem with the queues.

Committee chairperson Mosa Chabane told the department’s delegation that Members of Parliament were aware of what was happening on the ground with the queues and requested feedback on what was being done about it.

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“We represent the citizens and know that queues are still prevalent throughout the country,” said Chabane.

At this, Deputy Minister Nzuza assured the committee that they were working on backlogs.

Nzuza reiterated the department’s commitment to reducing the backlog for permanent and temporary residency permits.

New offices

The deputy minister also said that the department had prioritised the establishment of new, modernised offices for areas like Umthatha, KwaDukuza and Lusikisiki.

He confirmed that offices, like the one in East London, had even amended their working hours to accommodate the demands of the people who live in the area.

Committee members pleaded with the department to deal more efficiently with long queues at their provincial, district, local and border crossing offices.

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Meanwhile, the department’s Director-General (DG), Livhuwani Mkhode, also reported that the Department of Home Affairs had made serious strides in its efforts to deal with corruption within its departmental structures.

Mkhode reported that they had dismissed two senior managers who were found to be corrupt.

While welcoming the dismissals, members of the portfolio committee cautioned that more must be done to eliminate corruption within the department’s structures.