By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Minister of Home Affairs Aaron Motsoaledi has officially launched a new state-of-the-art branch at the Menlyn Park shopping centre in Pretoria.
The branch, which has been in operation since February, has already seen over 900 people make use of the various services provided by the department.
According to Motsoaledi, the new office will offer application and collections services for IDs and passports.
“Home Affairs Menlyn Office is expected to take off pressure from high-volume offices around Tshwane, such as Byron’s Place in the city centre of Mamelodi and Centurion,” he said.
“Clients will have the convenience of applying for these services when they visit the centre for their shopping.”
During his response to the State of the Nation Address on 17 February, home affairs minister Motsoaledi said that people would soon be able to get their passports and smart IDs at select malls.
Cresta Mall in Johannesburg, the Pavillion in eThekwini and Tygervalley in Cape Town are expected to receive home affairs offices next.
Motsoaledi said that the developments in these malls should be finished by 1 April 2023.
Regarding bank branches offering similar administrative services, the department expects to roll out home affairs services to 43 new branches, once arrangements and agreements with the country’s various banks are resolved.
The minister said at the end of 2022 that these arrangements are expected to be concluded by the end of the current financial year (end of March 2023).
First National Bank (FNB) recently reported that it has seen an increase in the number of cursomers using home affairs in bank branches for identification documents (ID) and passport applications.
In its interim results for the six months ending December 2022 on Thursday (2 March), the group reported that it had over 184,000 ID applications and 220,000 passport applications.
Going to a bank instead of a traditional home affairs branch in South Africa can often lead to faster and more convenient administration processes.
The push toward becoming a widespread financial service beyond the normal banking framework forms part of its strategy underpinned by providing innovative products.
FNB is not alone in providing these extended services; Discovery, Investec, Standard Bank, Nedbank and Absa also offer Home Affairs services, and many of them are considering expanding them across more branches.
Home Affairs is notorious in South Africa for its long lines and even longer wait times.