Good day all.
Herewith follows my nightmare with regards to a maze of incompetence, also known by some people as the Department of Home Affairs.
My passport is due to expire on the 22nd of June 2019.
My work consists of construction projects in various African countries, therefor without a passport, I cannot work.
So on the 20th of December 2018 I decided to apply online via the DHA E-Channel website. I was told to proceed to my nearest branch for the capturing of my biometrics and to make the payment. I've applied for a new passport and the new Smart ID card.
On the 20th and the 21st the system was offline at my local branch - Uitenhage (Eastern Cape).
I decided to leave it and go on holiday.
On the 4th of January 2019 I went again, and besides having to sit there the whole day, my biometrics was captured and I made the required payment.
On the 6th of January I left the country for work.
After about 7 weeks (end February), I asked my mother to go to the branch and query the status of my application, since I haven't received any collection notice.
When she went to the branch, she was told that the application has not been processed yet, as there is an outstanding payment due.
I emailed the branch manager my receipt and asked her to assist with the problem. Only after a few days, the 25th of February 2019, she sent an email to the head office and requesting them to link my application to my payment.
Then for the next few days my emails went unanswered.
On the 7th of March the manager responded, and said that my application was declined, and that she cannot see why. And that I must come to do a new application.
I asked her what about the payment that I have already made, and she told me that they usually request the head office to link the application to the payment, but that at times it is not successful. She suggested that I go to the branch again and do a new application and pay again.
Then after that I can request a refund for the unsuccessful application. She said that this will be better than waiting for the Head Office to respond.
I eventually came back to SA to try and sort the mess out.
I went to my local branch again on the 25th of March to re-apply. There they told me that they cannot open a new application for me as there is currently one in progress on my profile. Various personnel then tried to fix the problem as well as speaking to people in Head Office. They have eventually been told to send an email and request the application to be cancelled.
This up and down went on until the 27th. On the 28th I decided to go the Port Elizabeth branch for assistance. There I was told I only need to pay. So I decided to pay again, just to see if it would fix the problem. Which it didn't.
In-between this, I tried to do an online application again to see what would happen. And it also told me that my application cannot be processed as there is an application in progress.
On the 1st of April I went back to my local branch to see the manager. (She was on leave the previous week)
She also tried various things and spoke to support guys from Head Office. But without success. The guy from Head Office told her to send an email to a certain person to request them to delete all the applications from my profile so that we can start a fresh.
Every day until the 4th, she told me that she is still waiting for them to respond.
On the 4th of April I decided to fly to Johannesburg and go to the Head Office in Pretoria. There they told me that they do not deal with the public, and that all queries must be made through the Call Centre. (Which I have also called about 5 times by this date. They were also not able to assist as they just tell me that their system shows all the applications is cancelled and that I can proceed to a branch to do a new application)
I then tried a branch around the corner of the Head Office, where a guy that is supposedly working in the Head Office and is just assisting at the branch told me that he escalated my problem to someone in the Head Office that will attend to my problem and that he will let me know once it is fixed. (I am still waiting for that call!)
In the meantime the department also "upgraded" their system on the weekend of 31st March, which to this date is still giving various problems, according to employees and news articles.
On the 5th someone suggested I must go to the branch in the Johannesburg CBD. There was a guy there that is quite good with solving problems.
I went there, but he was also unsuccessful, as well as some of the other staff that tried. It was also after 15:30 so they couldn't call the Head Office for assistance.
He said he would sort it out for me on the 8th, but apparently they have been struggling with the system on the 8th and today on the 9th.
Since the 3rd of April I have also been in contact with the Director General of Home Affairs, who have twice now forwarded my problem on to someone else, who then also forwarded on to another person to attend to my problem.
So here I am today, still without a passport and all out of ideas, and also being on unpaid leave now for more than a week.
What I would like to know from someone on the forum, is if anyone knows someone in the DHA Head Office that can assist me directly?
Or if anybody knows of bodies or attorneys, that can assist me with this problem regarding the incompetence of the DHA?
I see one gets Immigration attorneys, but I am not sure if they will be able to assist in a Civil Service matter?
I just cannot fathom the fact that there is no one in the whole of the DHA that cannot just go into a profile and press the delete. I cannot!
I am willing to pay for a lawyer that is able to assist me, because in the end I am going to lose a lot more money, as I am going to lose my job.
Thanks for reading this essay.
Regards,
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