An unannounced visit to the Makhado Home Affairs office by the DA's shadow Minister of Home Affairs, Haniff Hoosen, revealed some disturbing trends at the local office.
Hoosen was joined by the DA's local representatives, Cllr Bessy Jones and Cllr Aluwani Raphalalani, when he visited the region last week. They decided to pop into the Home Affairs offices after they had received dozens of complaints from local residents about the quality of service that is being rendered at this branch.
"The most common complaint is that people who attend this office often have to wait the entire day just to make a simple application for an ID document," said Hoosen. "It was also revealed during the visit that most of the computer systems at this office are inoperable as well at the birth registration systems at the Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital."
In addition, Hoosen found it very concerning that only five immigration officers were available in the office. "This number is hugely insignificant if we want to reduce the high number of undocumented immigrants in the country," he said.
According to Hoosen, the immigration officers are responsible for conducting inspections at local businesses and communities to seek out undocumented immigrants and deport them. "However, the Makhado office does not even have a vehicle to conduct this exercise," he said.
He stated that the DA would be raising these matters in Parliament and would be calling on the Minister of Home Affairs and the director general to make urgent interventions at the Makhado office in order to ensure that the department deliver on its mandate.
The spokesperson for Limpopo Home Affairs, Mr Thabo Mokgola, said that the department was not keen to provide any comment to the DA's allegations.