Cape Town - Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Njabulo Nzuza has expressed concern over the standard of service delivery at their offices, following an undercover visit in East London on Wednesday.
The department has been riddled with complaints about the quality of services, from long queues to rudeness of staff.
Nzuza said the unannounced visit was to get a first-hand experience of the treatment their clients received on a daily basis.
He said he found that queries of clients were handled in a disrespectful manner.
“There were mothers who came to register the birth of their children who were nearly turned back while births are registered in our offices, so long as all the documents are there.
“We also noticed that some people were allowed to skip the lines which was unacceptable,” he said.
He said they also had to deal with a rude security guard who refused to assist them during the undercover operation.
“The security guard was very rude to an official we had sent to her and when we confronted her about how she is treating clients she continued to be rude and just turned her back on us.
“We had to send her to a back office to deal with the matter. The matter will be processed internally as it has now become a labour issue.
“We want all offices to know that they must offer high standards of service delivery and we will continue doing these surprise visits. We care and we will never allow service delivery to drop. We must consistently increase service delivery standards within the department. We need to remove elements that undermine quality service delivery standards,” Nzuza said.
Cape Times