Durban - The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Home Affairs has launched an investigation into cellphone use by front desk officials at its Tongaat office after a video on social media showed two officials busy with their phones while people wait in a queue.
The Home Affairs parliamentary committee also weighed in on the matter and called for the department to consider an outright ban on cellphone usage by front-line staff during working hours at all its offices.
David Hlabane, the provincial Home Affairs spokesperson, said the department was aware of the video.
“The department’s policy is quite clear on this matter. The use of cellphones by front office officials while performing their duties is prohibited,” said Hlabane.
He added that depending on the outcome of the investigation, appropriate action would be taken that may include subjecting the implicated officials to internal disciplinary processes.
Hlabane said the acting director-general, Thulani Mavuso, had instructed Cyril Mncwabe, the department’s provincial manager, to visit the office and conduct an urgent investigation.
Parliamentary portfolio committee on Home Affairs chairperson Hlomani Chauke said the committee had received numerous complaints from the public about delays at Home Affairs offices.
He said it was unacceptable that the public spent “excessive” amounts of time at these offices while officials spent a disproportionate amount of time on their cellphones.
“Officials are primarily employed to offer a service, and the complaints point to dereliction of duty by some officials, yet they continue to draw a salary at the end of the month,” Chauke said. He added that the committee was aware that one of the major causes of long queues was the downtime caused by unreliable information and software.
“But professional service at the department must improve,” Chauke said, adding that public service was based on adherence to Batho Pele principles, which call for high-quality service and courtesy.
“Measures must be put in place to encourage and, where necessary, enforce adherence to these principles,” he said.
Tongaat ward councillor Geoffrey Pullan, who visited the Tongaat Home Affairs offices last week with other councillors and MPs, said the situation was distressing.
“There are too many customers for the amount of staff and they do not have enough space or an adequate computer system,” he said.
Pullan also visited a new Home Affairs office in Ndwedwe, which was built last year and is “standing vacant”.
“Why not build a new Home Affairs office in the urban areas where people need it?” asked Pullan.
Chauke said that, at its first meeting of the year, the committee would invite the minister and the acting director-general to give an update on the matter.