Home Affairs ‘War on Queues’ in full swing

THE department of Home Affairs says even though its ‘War on Queues’ campaign started at a snail’s pace, there is progress in some areas. For the first time since it was launched in April, on Monday the department briefed the media on the campaign’s progress.

In a statement the department said: “A monitoring tool was developed, to measure average waiting time, from the time the client receives a ticket to the time the client receives the product or service. On average it takes 25 to 30 minutes to issue a product to the client. This work includes a pilot to redesign the workflow so that we separate those collecting passports from the ones collecting smart ID cards.”

They said they had successfully conducted the surveys at two of their branches adding that a full assessment will be done at five branches needing immediate action.

Also read: Home Affairs going paperless

“Regarding the five offices identified for immediate action, namely, uMngeni, Pietermaritzburg, Alexander, Soweto, and East London, a full assessment was conducted. Implementation of the findings has started in Alexander and Soweto offices. We are closely monitoring the performance of these interventions to ensure success,” said the department.

What’s more the department is currently developing mechanisms to ensure its staff are able to prioritise people who have applied online through the eHomeAffairs channel.

“Currently, we have noted that even those that have applied online are still not prioritised when they get to our offices; they still stand in queues as those doing walk-in applications. Senior managers from the head office continue to be deployed to provinces to monitor and support implementation,” they said.

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