Home Affairs investigates cell phone use at Tongaat front desk

THE Department of Home Affairs is conducting an urgent investigation into the use of cell phones by staff members at the front desk of its Tongaat office in KwaZulu-Natal.

This follows a social media post showing officials seemingly on their cell phones while on duty at the Tongaat office.

Home Affairs acting director-general, Thulani Mavuso, on Monday said he has instructed the provincial manager for KwaZulu-Natal to visit the office as part of the investigation.

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“The department will investigate the matter and as informed by the outcome, appropriate actions will be taken, which may include subjecting the implicated officials to internal disciplinary processes.”

Mavuso said the department’s policy is quite clear and states that the use of cellular phones by front office officials while performing their duties is prohibited, as it negatively impacts their service delivery.

“We cannot afford acts of this nature at a time when Home Affairs is battling to reduce unbearable queues to which citizens are subjected, thus the need for an investigation, which should really show our commitment to winning the war against queues at our offices,” said Mavuso.

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The misconduct by the officials has received backlash from social media users as well as the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs. The committee has called for an “outright ban” on cell phone usage due to the “numerous complaints it has received”.

“It is unacceptable that the public spends excessive amounts of time at Home Affairs offices while officials spend a disproportionate amount of time busy with their cell phones. Officials are primarily employed to offer a service and the complaints point to dereliction of duty by some officials, yet they continue to draw a salary at the end of the month,” committee chair Hlomani Chauke said.

Chauke said a guiding framework on the use of cell phones at front desks must be drafted and implemented across the country to ensure standardisation.

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