Tebogo Msimanga |
Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has approved a temporary extension of operating times by two and a half hours at front offices from 08:00 to 17:30 from Monday, 18 October 2021, to deal with the high demand for services at Home Affairs offices.
Out of the 412 Home Affairs offices, 197 are modernised Live Capture offices which can process Smart ID Cards and passports. These are the offices that will operate for extended hours because that is where the high demand is being experienced.
Minister Motsoaledi said many people have complained about a bad practice by some Home Affairs offices where queues are cut and people sent home presumably because there are already more than enough people to serve for the day.
“We learnt that this wrong practice of sending people home can happen as early as 07:00. We want to emphasise that no government policy provides for that and members of the public should not be treated like that.”
Minister Motsoaledi said the temporary extension is only meant to resolve congestion at the identified offices which increased over the last two weeks and this intervention will be supported by the 100% return of staff in all offices.
“The only people who will be sent home are those who arrive after 17:30. Everybody who arrives before 17:30 should be served and not turned away” reiterated Minister Motsoaledi.
