Cape Town - The EFF in the metro has denounced the Nyanga Home Affairs branch officials as a disgrace and says that they are working against the poor in the area.
This after an oversight visit on Tuesday morning by EFF chief whip Banzi Dambuza, where a long queue was seen outside the office, an hour after the supposed opening time – with the office still closed.
Dambuza said the oversight visit follows numerous complaints received from the community about the “pathetic attitude” by the branch staff and the poor level of services to the community, which he said caused long queues.
“There's have been several excuses that have been given to the people, which has resulted in them having to wait for long hours for services, from as early as 5am. They would be told to wait outside while the office goes through a process of opening, which would start at 9am and would be followed by a tea break at 10am, with little or no assistance offered. This would go as far as 1pm, where they again go to lunch – with still no work done,” said Dambuza.
Dambuza said while the equipment was there, he said there was a need for a change in attitude and accountability in the branch.
“This is a black marginalised area and the most basic assistance from the government, they expect to receive, takes them an arm and a leg for them to get that assistance. When they try to complain about this, a response received is that of someone asking for a favour, not a government service.
“The workers in the office need to recognise that they are not there to do favours but to provide service to the people and if they are not happy with that, they must vacate the space and allow those that are willing to do the work to replace them. Their responsibility must be to give proper, sufficient service delivery to the community,” he said.
Following the visit, Dambuza said more complaints have been received.
“We will ensure that every official in our public institutions in the area, and surrounding areas, are held accountable and, if not, suffer the consequences,” he said.
Community leader Madoda Mguye said a community meeting had been convened, as other public institutions in the area had been flagged for the same challenge. He said this disservice was mostly affecting the vulnerable members of the community.
The Department of Home Affairs was approached for comment, but failed to respond by the time of publication.