President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned Home Affairs officials against soliciting bribes from the public. The president said this during the opening of newly-built offices and unveiling of 100 service delivery orientated mobile trucks in Mokopane, Limpopo.
The opening ceremony was held at Mahwelereng Stadium and he was flanked by Home Affairs Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, Limpopo premier, Stan Mathabatha and other officials.
Residents of Mokopane will no longer have to travel long distances to get services, as the new mobile trucks will hit the streets in rural areas where people used to go far to get services.
Addressing the crowd, Motsoaledi said the new office will offer services such as live capture capabilities for the processing of smart identity cards and passports.
“However, the mobile trucks will provide services such as birth registrations, marriages, deaths, citizenship services, records management and temporary document applications on wheels.”
Motsoaledi explained that the mobile trucks will be distributed to all provinces, however, they will be placed in areas which are facing difficulties in accessing services.
He said Gauteng will get six trucks, Limpopo will get 14, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape will get 16, and the smaller provinces will get eight or 10 trucks each.
Meanwhile, Kgomotso Makgae, from Mosesetjane, voiced some of the difficulties people used to encounter, citing that it was a nightmare, as elderly people used to wake up to access services.
“We used to wake up at 4am just to go there and find a long queue of people waiting to be assisted. And, sometimes you will get assistance around 3pm, and I think the new building and mobile trucks will improve the services.”
Another resident from Basterspad, Simon Mashiangako, told IOL News that they used to dig deep into their pockets to travel far, only to find that there’s is shortage of personnel at the offices.
“It was evident that there was a lack of staff, because you will go there and find out that the officials are not enough to assist the long queues of people waiting outside the office. I think the mobile trucks will be more accessible for people in rural areas.”
Ramaphosa emphasised that the new fleet is aimed at eliminating corrupt practices within the department, such as soliciting bribes from individuals in exchange for services.
“Don’t insult people, don’t keep people waiting for long hours, and don’t demand bribes from people in order to get assistance,” warned Ramaphosa.
In addition, he said the new offices and mobile trucks will make a huge difference in the lives of people in rural areas to access services.
“With these mobile trucks, you don’t have to spend a lot of money on transport to go to town to apply for services from the Department of Home Affairs,” he said.
IOL