Johannesburg – Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has launched the Moetapele Leadership Initiative which will ensure members of the public receive consistently high quality service from Home Affairs officials.
“The old Home Affairs is gone and dead. All people visiting Home Affairs seeking services must leave happy and satisfied,” he said on Tuesday at the launch of the initiative in Edenvale, Johannesburg.
Under the Moetapele Leadership Initiative the department will aim to reduce long queues and prioritise the elderly and sick.
The intention is to improve the performance of officials who serve the public directly to ensure that they serve efficiently and effectively with courtesy and good manners.
As part of the initiative, all Home Affairs officials are expected to have their name tags bearing their faces when serving clients. The initiative also encourages officials to practice leadership in their different areas.
“Gone are the days when managers disappeared to the back of the office, clueless of challenges of the clients. We need managers who are visible when there are long queues,” Minister Gigaba said, adding the department was introducing a culture of accountability.
Apply for an ID from home
The Minister also announced that as from September this year, people will be able to submit their ID applications from home using the internet and they will only have to visit the Home Affairs offices for their ID photos and finger prints to be taken.
“We are doing all of this to improve client experience,” he said.
Patricia Boloka, from the Winnie Mandela settlement, told SAnews that she had experienced good service at the Edenvale Home Affairs.
She thought she was going to spend the whole day busy with her child’s birth and marriage certificate applications, but it did not take long.
“I have already received an SMS saying my applications have been received. The officials told me that I will receive another SMS informing me to come and collect my documents,” she said.
Pay with a debit card
The Edenvale Home Affairs office has been revamped to demonstrate a fully digitised, paperless environment.
Part of this includes piloting a payment system that will allow clients to pay for Home Affairs services with debit and credit cards, this will be rolled out to all 140 ID smart card offices by March 2016. – SAnews.gov.za
