Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi opened the ministry's first office on Monday at Durban's Pavilion Shopping Centre, a supermall in KwaZulu-Natal.
HBlue Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi opened the ministry's first office on Monday at Durban's Pavilion Shopping Centre, a supermall in KwaZulu-Natal.
Mr Motsoaledi said the third new office to open in a shopping mall follows the opening of branches in Menlyn Park in Pretoria and Cresta Mall in Johannesburg in the past two weeks.
Mr Motsoaledi said the Pavilion office, which opened to the public on April 12, had already processed 238 identity card and 142 passport applications.
“Some of the documents have already arrived here to be handed over to their owners,” he said.
“Many people may have forgotten that not so long ago it took six months to receive an ID card and three months to issue a passport, but now that waiting time is 13 days. I can definitely say that it has been shortened.” “Of course, there are exceptions here and there where people find problems, and those are the exceptions that get covered in the media.
“Our standard is 13 days, but passports can be made within 24 hours. We will do so when we understand your situation,” he said.
Mr Motsoaledi said the government would allow Pareto Limited, the owner of The Pavilion, to open additional home office doors at other commercial properties such as Westgate Shopping Center in Johannesburg, Sandton City and Mimosa Mall in Bloemfontein. He said he hopes it will open.
He said additional branches scheduled to open in the next two weeks also include Tiger Valley in Cape Town and Southgate in Johannesburg.
“We are no longer going to rely on traditional internal affairs services,” he said. “We are also expanding into shopping malls and banks, so there is no longer a need to queue at the Ministry of Interior's office,” he said.
The ministry said it provides the service at 29 bank branches nationwide and is in the process of contracting additional branches. In addition, in order to secure birth records for all citizens, a home affairs office has been established within the hospital, preferably near the delivery room.
“There are still people on this continent who are born, marry, and die without any record of ever having been on this planet. In other countries, we call this the 'transparency scandal.'” he said.
He said Egypt led the way on the continent with 98% of its population documented, followed by South Africa with a documentation rate of 89%, which means 11% of people are still invisible. .
“We're making good on our promise to Congress to go into shopping malls, banks and hospitals,” he said.
He said the Home Affairs offices in Umgeni Road in Durban and Randburg in Johannesburg had become a “nightmare” and that the “oversubscription” of citizens using these offices had resulted in countless complaints. .
Mr Motsoaledi said the Pavilion branch was offering both reservation and walk-in services and called on the public to remove the names or, in some cases, take photographs of staff who try to turn people away.
He added that the public can also expect a “huge” announcement from the Home Office within two weeks.
Pareto Limited chief executive Mallows Kekane said the group was quick to provide retail space when Mr Motsoaledi announced the division's shopping mall strategy.
“We realized how important it is to give the public easy access to services. There is nothing more important in your wallet than your ID card,” he said.
Mr Kekane then alluded to the suicide of Sukumbuzo Douglas Mhlongo, 22, saying he was a young man who will never be forgotten for his struggle with the Home Office.
Mhlongo's body was found in a hut near Hillcrest in KwaZulu-Natal in 2009, with a suicide note stating that he had taken his own life because he could not obtain identification. Because he did not have identity documents, he was unable to take the regular job he was offered, and the officials allegedly demanded that he pay a bribe of R400.
“Doing business with the government is not easy, but I found working with the Ministry of Home Affairs refreshing and business-like,” Kekane said.
Deputy Home Affairs Minister Njabulo Nzuza said more than 1.5 million people had been interviewed by the department at bank branches since last year. He said the ministry has deployed 100 mobile unit offices in rural areas and schools and plans to deploy another 100 “soon.”
“Today's aim is to expand our reach by opening this state-of-the-art office where people can come here to apply for passports and other services provided by the Home Office. We will do this “This is because national identity is important to the basic functioning of the economy. If citizens do not have access to their identity, they cannot enter into basic contracts,” he said.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomsa Dube-Ncube has said the provincial government has decided to close the Pinetown, Umgeni Road and Durban city center sites due to people being exposed to crime, poor access and lack of access for older people. He said he was “concerned” about the state of services at the Home Office. About bathing facilities.
“We look forward to seeing this type of situation that people are experiencing in these offices alleviated,” Dube-Ncube said.
Other offices opening in KwaZulu-Natal later this year are planned for KwaDukuza and Chatsworth.