Home Affairs Staff Underqualified

The Department of Home Affairs conducted a test evaluating their staff last year. The outcome was rather grimm.

At least 70% failed the competency test and are appearently not qualified enough for the positions they hold. It is no wonder than that the Department of Home Affairs in South Africa is considered to be the worst run Department in the country.

Efforts are made to increase the quality of service given at the Department but Home Affairs is still a long way from being an efficient Department. Some cases can be used to show how inefficiently the Department actually is:
- the Department of Home Affairs in Johannesburg is now taking up to 7 months to issue a work permit
- If no legal advice is saught, you just might end up with the wrong permit (relatives instead of spousal etc.).
- Requirements are not the same throughout the country but can differ from Department to Department (The offices might only be 20 Kilometers apart from each other and not have the same requirements for permits).

And this is just for immigration. Have you ever tried to get a Passport, ID Book or Birth Certificate. Not to speak of how Refugees and Asylum Seekers are treated by the Department.

The most sensible way of dealing with this seems to be to train up the staff, since government departments do not follow a hire and fire policy. I just hope the people training the staff have actualy passed the competency test.