Update
GEORGE NEWS - During a visit to the Home Affairs office on Thursday 15 March, Hettie Boucher says she was flabbergasted when an official ignored her presence and kept on typing on her cell phone while she (Boucher) waited for almost 10 minutes.
According to Boucher, the official, seated behind her desk, put the phone down after a few minutes, picked up another, and continued typing on it for several minutes more before finally getting up to approach the counter to serve her.
"I arrived at Home Affairs at 07:30 in the hope of being served promptly. Then already about 15 people were queuing outside on the pavement. When the office opened at 08:00, I was directed to the birth, marriage and death certificate section upstairs.
"There was only one client who was waiting while her partner was being served at one of the counters. Behind another counter, the other official did not flinch when I arrived, but was occupied with her cell phone.
"It was only after about eight minutes that she rose and came to the counter. I was upset, but decided to not make anything of it."
When Boucher's application was completed, the official told her it would take six to eight weeks for her document to arrive. "I wanted to know if I would be notified, but she told me that I would have to phone the office, so I asked for a specific name and number to phone, as calls to their office are usually not answered.
"When she explained that they do not answer the phones when they serve clients, I could not refrain from remarking on the way she had just been busy with her own phones during work time. I got a sarcastic smile in response. This kind of atrocious attitude from a public servant is unacceptable."
Boucher said she called the numbers of Sharon Davids and Catherine Lottering, which the official provided for enquiries, in the hope of reporting the incident. However, after trying about 10 times, holding on for long, she gave up.
Mosiuoa Ngaka, district operations manager for Eden and Central Karoo, commented as follows: "We as a department have a cellphone policy. We are aware of the incident. The matter will be investigated and necessary remedies will be instituted subject to the findings of the investigation."
Ngaka encouraged residents from Plettenberg Bay, Knysna and Mossel Bay to make use of the Home Affairs offices in Mossel Bay and Plettenberg Bay where only citizenship and marriage services are not available.
In response to complaints about long queues and clients being turned away from the office before closing time, Ngaka earlier told the newspaper that the George office has been experiencing an unexpected increase in the number of clients since January.
Several people the George Herald spoke to said they experienced efficient and friendly service at Home Affairs George.
Last week on Facebook a number of people also made positive comments. See more compliments on letters page.
The failure to answer phone calls remains a touchy issue.
Read a related article | Home Affairs: Expect to wait
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