My trip to Home Affairs - An unforgiving journey : Reinhardt Biermann

News24 – 20-04-2022

 

Citizens often have to take off several days to sort out their documentation at Home Affairs.

London-based lawyer Reinhardt Biermann details his journey of first trying to sort out his passport in the UK before it expired in May, before coming to South Africa, where the process wasn't much better. 

As is the case for many South Africans, as well as foreigners, I recently had to apply for documentation at the Department of Home Affairs (DHA).

My journey, which is the only word to describe this experience, started in January 2022, when I tried to make an appointment with the High Commission in London to renew my passport. 

I am currently working in London, and was perhaps a bit overzealous when I thought that my passport, which is expiring in May of this year, could be renewed timeously. Friends also told me I would just need to bite the bullet and be patient over the coming months. 

Nothing, however, prepared me for the 'customer experience' that the DHA has created for South Africans. 

Journey kicks off 

The current process in the UK requires South African citizens to first make an online booking with the High Commission and DHA, and only once an appointment date has been allocated can you submit your application in person and complete the requisite biometric tests. 

For several weeks, no email response was forthcoming from the High Commission. If one does follow up via email, you are shut down with a standard response which refers to 'volume commitments'. The person who responds does not add their name, which is a clever way to ensure you never know who you are speaking to and avoid accountability or continuity. 

Nearly two months after applying, I still had not received an appointment date. I made several calls to the High Commission without any progress. The DHA, which is the responsible office, didn't even answer their phone. 

I then sent emails to several different people at DHA, Dirco and the consulate, asking how I could lay a formal complaint about the service I was receiving. No response or clarification was forthcoming, but I eventually received an appointment date for two weeks later in London. 

This appointment date, together with an (alleged) four- to eight-month waiting period for my passport, meant that I would receive the document far beyond the expiry date. I would, in effect, therefore have no valid country documentation while being abroad. I also pointed out all of these details in an email, but I guess I should take responsibility for waiting so long to apply. 

Let's make a road trip 

I then decided to rather apply in South Africa at the DHA office in Paarl, Western Cape, while visiting family. I recognise that not everyone is able to make such travel arrangements, and in fact, the majority of South Africans are dependent on their local DHA offices for assistance. 

The current waiting period at the banks, which were added to streamline the process for smart ID cards and passports, exceeds two months and some are also starting to cease such services completely. This was therefore not an option. 

In Paarl, I packed some water and food (forgetting sunscreen), expecting I might wait a short while to enter the building and submit my application.

I eventually stood outside the office for the entire day without making any progress and being burnt in the sun. I had to return the next day (with a preferential ticket), as home affairs employees indicated that they were not being paid overtime and would stop providing services around 16:15. It is not clear what the exact office hours are at the department, but it seems that it is not 08:00 to 17:00. 

I then had to take time off again on a separate day to collect the passport. During this time only five people were helped with collections over a period of just under two hours. 

I was fortunate to only spend only a couple of excruciating days in the DHA queues, but this can take weeks or longer for many.

What kind of journey was it 

Without going into the extreme depths of DHA boringness, the worst of the experience was the fact that young mothers with children and the elderly are obliged to stand outside of the building in Paarl the boiling hot sun for hours on end, with no seating, shading or toilet facilities. Several people sit on the tar road waiting for their chance to enter the office. As winter approaches, the same situation applies, even if it is rainy or windy.  

A further issue adding to the discomfort is that no effort is made by the DHA to inform those queuing of the expected waiting times and how many people can be attended to in a day. On this basis, people are forced to take annual leave to go the DHA offices. In  some instances this might mean putting in three days leave to first wait outside the building, come back the next day (if they could not submit their application) and collect their document on another day. 

My simple question therefore, to the DHA, the Director-General, and the various Deputy Directors-General, whom I understand are responsible for an annual budget from the fiscus, and charge extra money for each application filed at the DHA offices, is how is this acceptable in this day and age? Why has the whole experience at the DHA been normalised across the entire South Africa and even abroad? 

I accept that officials at the High Commission in London were not particularly interested in assisting me (I am not responsible for resourcing at DHA and will therefore not conjure up excuses on their behalf), but this has reached a new low point in public service administration. As an example, it is a well-known fact that the Paarl Home Affairs office has serious queues daily and a lack of infrastructure for more than 10 years. The building has remained the same size since 2010. No effort has been made to create better facilities such as toilets, shading or seating and no reasonable indication is given of how long the process is likely to take.

The people that work at the office are helpful, but the entire system is mired with problems at each and every corner - meaning the current personnel are overworked, overburdened and forced to do more than expected of them. 

At the DHA office, I picked up that very few people in the queue are actually from Paarl, with some driving from other locations as the Paarl office is considered a better DHA office than others in the Western Cape area. I understand that the Worcester office recently didn't have cables for internet access, which makes one wonder what else is missing. 

Why should anyone have to drive to Grabouw, Malmesbury or Paarl, when having a passport or ID document is a basic civilian document, which is the most basic of responsibility of the government? 

The incredibly quick way to fix this 

There is no doubt in my mind that a first year engineering student, or other technocrats within civil society, would be able to fix the inefficient system that the DHA is currently deploying. It is not clear if the DHA has ever reached out to the public/private sector for any assistance or advice.

The rollout of the eHome Affairs channel has unfortunately just not translated into any quicker way to deal with DHA and the long queues demonstrate the mismatch. 

If we are serious about public service in South Africa, we will make sure that, at the very least, each and every person that arrives at a DHA office knows: (i) how to complete and submit an application; (ii) which exact documents and supporting evidence is necessary; and (iii) the waiting times that apply on that day and (once we have sorted out those issues) be given a time slot to attend. We can already achieve this by helping people to complete the necessary documents before entering (specifically those that do not have access to the internet), and providing basic education. 

For example, in the case of IT issues, which is a regular occurrence at the DHA, virtually every town in South Africa has experienced IT professionals that could be drawn from to assist (or get to know the actual processes of the DHA). 

In addition to systematic changes, the question does arise: What is the budget of DHA being spent on and why are there separate application fees? This becomes significantly more relevant if one thinks of the increasing population and migrant community, which necessitates far beyond a 10-year plan to address resourcing and infrastructure issues. 

From a resourcing perspective, I understand that there have been determinations made regarding the size of DHA offices and how many employees should (ideally) be placed to ensure the requirements of an area can be served. Based on recent parliamentary responses, in Stellenbosch, for example, the size of the municipality means that there should be 40 officials assisting, while at present there is only six in attendance. 

On this basis, it is not clear why the DHA is not appointing more staff, even on an ad hoc basis to assist the overworked staff. If there are budget limitations, I have not seen any indication by the DHA that they require the help of interns or students. Covid-19 can no longer be an excuse for the current resourcing issues experienced at the DHA offices. 

The journey continues 

In summary, my journey has been an easy one, when compared to those experiences of poor South Africans who struggle just to get to the DHA offices. 

It is however concerning that every South African (just ask your neighbour) is supposed to be content with the status quo and that the DHA's service is so pathetic, that one feels privileged to even enter their office buildings. 

This normalisation of the process is ludicrous and it is time that South Africans become more vocal with their complaints and suggestions. No one should be made to feel like this. 

For me, the only way to solve this, is for the DHA to swallow its pride, work with ordinarily civilians and try to find common solutions for the administrative problems each and every civilian is currently experiencing. 

- Reinhardt Biermann is a South African lawyer, working in London.

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