FOR years Empangeni’s Department of Home Affairs has faced public criticism relating to issues of untidiness and incompetent staff.
The Zululand Observer spoke to Office Manager Vusi Mjadu, who was quick to respond to the criticism.
ZO: Clarify the issue of sharing premises with a hardware store. We have received complaints about the confusion it causes.
Mjadu: We share a plot, not the premises. We are divided by a fence and there should be no confusion. When their trucks do deliveries, they park at the back and our offices are in front. It happened once that a truck had a breakdown and blocked the gate, but that was a once off incident.
ZO: There has also been complaints about the unkempt state of the premises, with litter and long grass not being attended to.
Mjadu: The dirt and litter are outside our premises and caused by street vendors who sell food to people visiting our offices. They operate outside the fence, and the grass is on municipal property, not ours. Our premises are maintained by the owner of the building.
ZO: The public claim they receive notifications to collect their smart ID cards, only to find the gate locked. Why is that?
Mjadu: Our core function is to ensure we serve everybody inside our premises, but there are periods of congestion where we need to assess the situation. When it is obvious that we won’t be able to process everybody, we inform people to go back home because they won’t be assisted on that day. Our rule is that once we have 60 people inside, we lock the gate to control the situation and then let in 10 people at a time. It must be noted that we have only two computers to process ID card applications.
ZO: How do you explain the long queues?
Mjadu: We attract people from as far afield as Durban. We have pleaded with the people not to all arrive at our offices in the early hours, but they don’t listen. We start operating from 8am to 4 pm, but people already start queueing at 5am.
ZO: There was also the issue of toilets, that people have nowhere to go if they want to relieve themselves. Do you cater for them?
Mjadu: We have public toilets, but there are times when they are out of order. In the past we allowed them to use the staff facilities, only to be let down. The public left them in a terrible state.
ZO: I believe you are in the process of rolling out smart IDs with some banking institutions?
Mjadu: I can’t comment at this stage. It will be announced by the National Minister of Home Affairs, Malusi Gigaba.
