Parliament, Wednesday, 1 September 2021 – The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs welcomes the announcement that an appointment system is being developed at the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), as it considers this critical in fighting the long queues at home affairs offices. Despite this, the committee remains concerned that the department continues to be affected by long queues and system downtime, which affects service delivery.
“We welcome the deployment of this system and are hopeful it will be a significant intervention in saving our people from standing in long queues and sometimes over successive days. We also welcome the innovation of linking the system to the National Population Register to insulate the system against illegal agents,” said Mr Mosa Chabane, the Chairperson of the committee.
The capacitation of 196 DHA offices with generators is also welcomed, as it will enable these offices to deliver services during power outages.
The committee welcomes the commitment to develop purpose-built offices to ensure a conducive environment for quality service delivery. The construction of these offices is currently underway in Mokopane, with a possible completion date of December. Following that, Taung, Thohoyandou and Stanger office construction will commence.
High vacancy rates in the civic services and information service branch are a concern, as these areas are critical for shorter queues. While the committee acknowledges the funding shortages in the department, it called for strategies to find workable solutions to this problem. Despite this, the committee welcomes the continuous engagement with National Treasury for additional budget allocations to deal with human resource and technical requirements to resolve this matter.
The committee welcomes the assurances that the department is working with other state and private entities to improve access to the internet to resolve the challenge of service down-time. Also, the commitment to increase mobile connectivity is welcomed, especially in the context of vandalism of copper-based technology. The committee welcomes dual connectivity links, but urged the department to increase this number, as 35 out of 691 offices is too low.
The expansion of the footprint of services using the 98 mobile units is welcomed. Furthermore, the committee welcomes the announcement that 10 mobile units will be procured in the current financial year. This will go a long way in alleviating some of the department’s pressures. The committee emphasised the need for more financial and human resource investment in mobile units, as they have been identified as an effective tool to reach far-flung areas to deliver quality services. The committee appreciates the announcement that the department is exploring the use of malls as system multipliers aimed at adding further service delivery contact points.
Nonetheless, the committee is disappointed that the discussions between the department and labour has not yielded positive results in adopting a new shift system to include Saturdays as operating days. The committee believes that operating on Saturdays will alleviate some of the pressure on the system, but accept that discussions at employer and employee level must be concluded. “We urge all parties to find a middle ground in resolving this impasse, especially for the benefit of the people who depend on DHA for services,” Mr Chabane emphasised.
Above all, the committee appreciates the commitment made by both the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies and the Minister of Home Affairs to find solutions to perennial challenges of downtime and remain hopeful that they will drive this process to its natural conclusion.
The committee will continue to receive updates on progress, as it considers this a critical programme in offering quality services to the people.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON HOME AFFAIRS, MR MOSA CHABANE.
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