South Africa: Home Affairs Steps Up Turn Around Strategy
All Department of Home Affairs offices now use track and trace equipment and 254 offices have received scanners and receipt slip printers to date as part of their Turn Around Strategy.
Addressing the Governance and Administration Cluster in Parliament Friday, the Minister of Public Service and Administration, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi said 1 249 front line staff have been trained in customer service procedures and that further training will be provided to 427 additional staff in the frontline offices.
To enhance the effectiveness of the existing Client Service Centre, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) will also implement a Contact Centre, which will deal with all enquiries and service delivery complaints. In terms of identity document distribution, the DHA has investigated various methods of postage namely, postage of application forms from front offices to head office, postage of enabling documents from the head office to front offices, and postage of uncollected enabling documents from front offices to serviceable postal addresses
The Department previously signed a service level agreement (SLA) with the South African Post Office (SAPO) for the distribution of uncollected enabling documents from front offices to serviceable addresses.
The SLA was to be revised during 2007 in order to include secure mail delivery options. This review process was however expanded to include all three dimensions of postage engaged by the Department. Direct postage of identity documents to postal addresses was however discontinued with effect from June 2007. As a result of these challenges, the Department has decided to appoint a single service provider to provide secure and fast postal services in order to improve turnaround times and ensure secure delivery of applications and enabling documents.
The single service provider will begin its operations by the end of November 2007. With regard to the use and implementation of ID Smart Cards, a review of all IT projects is currently underway. A Request for Information (RFI) was developed to obtain information in relation to the status of technology, costs of producing the ID card, capability of producing the ID card internally versus externally, and developing a logistical strategy.
It is anticipated that the RFI will be published by mid November 2007. The DHA also announced that South Africa will receive a new passport printing system during June 2008. The implementation plan for the replacement of the old Coat of Arms in South African passports with the new Coat of Arms commenced from 1 November 2007. Online fingerprint verification, the DHA said, has been piloted at four front offices in Tshwane, Polokwane, Durban and Mthatha.
This initiative was a proof of concept and was successful, reported the Department. The DHA has since awarded a tender for the implementation of the “who am I online” system, and online verification technology will be implemented through this tender as a quick win. Full scale rollout is planned to start during January 2008 along with revised ID processes. The G&A Cluster strives to improve the quality of life of the people by improving governance, the capacity and organisation of the state and its underlying systems.
The Cluster’s priorities are derived from Government’s commitment to improve its service to the people as embodied in the 2004 electoral mandate.
