A South African Identity Document. File picture: Neil Baynes
THE DA in Parliament says its Home Affairs oversight office was inundated with complaints from South Africans who have been struggling for years to get simple documents like IDs and birth certificates from the country’s Home Affairs department.
DA spokesperson on Home Affairs, Angel Khanyile said the situation affected the lives of ordinary citizens in a bad way. In some instances, some people were struggling to relocate overseas because of the slow pace of Home Affairs, while others were struggling to get employment.
“The DA’s Home Affairs help desk is inundated with e-mails from desperate applicants who have been flatly ignored by the department every time that they try to follow up on their applications. The applicants advise us they have received no feedback on their submitted applications, for both civic services and immigration, with calls going unanswered when they try to follow up,” Khanyile said.
According to Khanyile, service delivery at Home Affairs has become so bad that some of the outstanding applications date back as far as 2016.
“People’s lives have been left in limbo as they seek resolution for surname change, unabridged birth certificates, the fixing of misspelt personal details and cases struck off the system due to system failure, including permanent residence and visa applications,” Khanyile said.
She said that she and other parliamentarians had been raising the issue of inefficiencies at Home Affairs. The matter had been reported to the portfolio committee on home affairs and the minister’s office.
“When this issue was raised in the portfolio committee, the minister requested that we copy his personal assistant when we send emails, and they will ensure all these cases are treated with the urgency they deserve. We followed that advice, but there has seen little improvement,” Khanyile said.
Khanyile suggested that a unit be established inside the Home Affairs department to deal with the backlogs and other issues that may have clogged the system.
“The Department of Home Affairs must work to improve its systems and ensure that they are responsive to applicants, whose lives are left in limbo with no one to turn to. A complaints clearing unit will be a critical first step towards better service delivery in the department,” she said.