Cape Town – The DA has urged Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi to reopen identity document, retention of citizenship, passport and marriage services, labelling the continued closure of these services ’’irrational“.
The Department of Home Affairs had suspended these services until further notice in the middle of last month, saying it was ’’trying to save lives“. The DA had then called on the department to open online applications for IDs and passports with immediate effect.
DA home affairs spokesperson Adrian Roos MP said in a statement on Thursday ’’no rational reason was provided by the minister as to why this service remains closed and it should be reopened to allow for ID and passport applications without delay’’, especially since certain level 3 lockdown regulations were eased on Monday.
’’It is simply not fair that services to which citizens have a constitutional right are denied because Home Affairs has failed to explore all available options,’’ Roos said.
’’The opening and closing of selected Home Affairs services at different stages of lockdown is the lazy option and has to be replaced with resilient solutions.
’’The DA's Angel Khanyile MP recently called for the opening of eHomeAffairs to allow applications through this channel that drives no additional traffic to Home Affairs offices.
'’The DA has furthermore made repeated calls for the reopening of Home Affairs offices on Saturdays, which could be reserved for specific types of applications. There has been no sign of progress on discussions with the unions and a complete lack of urgency.
’’Instead, Home Affairs staff are sitting at home on full pay while citizens are unable to apply for documents they need to access services or find a job.
’’That some of these staff cannot work on a Saturday beggars belief. That discussions with unions have dragged on for over two years indicates either brazen incompetence or a complete lack of political will on the part of the ANC government.
’’Before denying citizens any service which is a constitutional right, every possible avenue must be vigorously explored to keep these services available, even in a reduced capacity.
’’The Democratic Alliance will continue to fight irrational limitations to the rights of South Africans.’’
IOL