Buffalo City residents in the Eastern Cape have voiced their grievances on home affairs services to Deputy Minister Njabulo Nzuza.
The deputy minister conducted an unannounced visit to various branches within the metro on Wednesday, following complaints by residents on slow services at these branches.
51-year-old Kholeka Jack says she got a shock of her life when she was told that she had died by Home Affairs, when applying for a new ID document. This has made life uneasy for her, as she couldn’t apply for jobs or the Social Distress Grant of R350.
“They say l am dead, l don’t know how that is possible,” says Jack.
Another resident claims to have been turned away for reasons unknown to her. This as she was attempting several times to register the birth of her newly born baby.
“The situation is very bad, they really – they just don’t care even when l came for an ID – it was really difficult,” says Ichumile Nqabeni.
Nzuza has promised tough action against officials, “We came here to ensure that the level of service we plan for in the boardrooms, is the level of service that people on the ground see. We found that there are people who are skipping queues with the assistance of our officials.”
Two weeks ago, the Home Affairs department and its slow services became a major headache to South Africans all over the country. Complaints of offline systems, long queues, and long waiting periods are just the tip of the iceberg.
The Deputy Minister visited Gqeberha to listen to the grievances of residents. He also brought along mobile stations to bring services closer to the people.
In the video from earlier this month, the Home Affairs Imbizo kicks off in Gqeberha:
Nzuza has promised to conduct these unannounced visits to all branches that seem to be lacking in providing services to communities.
