Minister Motsoaledi must implement promised IT solutions

Dear Editor

After visiting the Mitchells Plain Home Affairs office yesterday (19 October 2021), I will invite the Department of Home Affairs and Minister Motsoaledi to brief the Standing Committee on the 24th of November 2021 on the Department’s efforts to address its IT problems and reduce the long queues which have become a hallmark of the Department’s service. In June, during an NCOP debate in which I participated, Minister Motsoaledi undertook to address the concerns I raised about the poor level of services Western Cape residents receive from his department. The Minister committed his department to develop and implement an actionable plan to address the IT issues experienced at Home Affairs offices, which often leads to residents queuing before dawn in the hopes of receiving the most basic services.

We had hoped that promises made by the Minister and his Deputy would have led to tangible results. Instead, it is clear that despite these promises and those of a scheduling system for appointments, nothing appears to have changed since I first raised the concerns of Mitchells Plain residents. In fact, on Monday residents were sent home after the IT system was once again offline. This has led many to return for a second day in a row, hoping that they might be assisted.

We continue to see delays in the processing of IDs and instances of local Home Affairs offices losing residents’ documentation. When speaking with those queueing outside the Mitchells Plain office yesterday, residents from Nyanga, Khayelitsha and Philippi said that they had come to the Mitchells Plain office in the hopes of receiving services since their local Home Affairs offices’ IT systems were more often offline than online. This, along with upcoming Local Government Elections and school holidays, has led to an increase in the demand for services from the Mitchells Plain office.

More than this, offices like Mitchells Plain and others in the Western Cape are completely understaffed, a matter which the Minister and his Department are fully aware of. The necessary budget in order to hire additional staff has already been allocated by the National Treasury. The understaffing of Home Affairs offices needs to be addressed urgently as it has a direct impact on service delivery and leaves the remaining staff overworked.

South Africans are exhausted of Pretoria’s motto being that the ‘system is down’. And whilst the Department forever claims to be fixing it, its very own service provider, SITA, has indicated that the Department has failed to purchase an appropriate package to meet Home Affairs’ needs. As a matter of urgency, the Department must review these systems and install the necessary infrastructure so that ultimately, residents receive timeous, efficient services. Particularly, with the upcoming elections, residents need access to identification documents in order to vote. A lack of service delivery should not impact resident’s constitutional rights.

I sincerely hope that the Minister and his Department will take this opportunity to speak to the residents of the Western Cape who have grown increasing frustrated with the long queues, offline systems and poor service delivery that has characterised the Department of Home Affairs.

Regards

Ricardo Mackenzie, MPP
DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Premier and Constitutional Affairs

Source