Home Affairs Minister Siyabonga Cwele on Thursday visited the Randburg Home Affairs offices to ensure that services are delivered efficiently to the public.
After being informed by staff at the front office that systems were offline for most of the day, the Minister personally called IT service providers, where he was assured that technicians were working speedily to resolve the issue.
Cwele used the visit to urge citizens to collect their smart card IDs after observing a pile of uncollected cards.
“We urge all those who had applied for their IDs and had received notifications to come and collect their IDs. An ID is an important document that allows you to access government services,” the Minister said.
He reiterated the same message when he visited Home Affairs offices in Soweto, Maponya Mall and Roodepoort. The visits were intended for the Minister to experience first-hand the situation at the offices and to ensure effective service delivery.
Last week, the Minister made an unannounced visit to the department’s Umgeni office in KwaZulu-Natal to monitor service delivery. During the visit, Cwele observed that the trend of uncollected smart card IDs was prevalent there as well.
“With the elections coming up, citizens need their IDs to register to vote. We also encourage people to register to vote,” he said.
During his visit in eThekwini, the Minister was accompanied by the department’s Acting Director General, Thulani Mavuso and KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Manager, Cyril Mncwabe. – SAnews.gov.za
