Update

GEORGE NEWS - People queuing outside the office of the Home Affairs Department in York Street - a common occurrence these days - are impacting on a nearby business whose owner says she is at the end of her tether.

The queue usually stretches through the parking area past a travel agency and the coffee shop, Travel Bugs, owned by Sandra Roodt. 

She complains, "It is seriously affecting our business and is hugely frustrating for our clients. It makes parking more of a mission and the people in the queue sometimes lean onto a client's parked car, setting off the alarm. 

"When it rains, they shift to the stoep and we even have to put up a barrier to keep them from totally blocking our entrance. I am at wits' end. Where can we report this? The department is not heeding our complaints."

George Herald has previously reported on Roodt's predicament, but the situation remains unchanged.

READ: RAIN OR SHINE, YOU'LL QUEUE OUTSIDE AT HOME AFFAIRS

Home Affairs Garden Route district manager Mosiuoa Ngaka said the queues are due to the limited capacity the office can carry in terms of Covid-19 regulations. "We cannot determine the number of clients visiting our office on a daily basis. Consequently, we cannot cut the queues as this will also be inconsistent with our mandate as government department. 

"To mitigate the situation, from time to time we have our queue marshals control the queues outside." 

To Roodt's proposal that Home Affairs clients could enter through the back entrance of the building where there is ample space for queues, Ngaka said, "It is not meant for the public because of security imperatives." 

He said the parking area in front is municipal property and the municipality would be "in a better position to provide guidance in this".

Debra Sauer, communications officer at George Municipality, confirmed that the parking area falls under the municipality's jurisdiction. However, the Covid regulations published for level 2 on 30 May place the burden of queue management on the business or public institution receiving clients on their premises. In this case, Home Affairs.

"The desired outcome would be to implement a system that can accommodate the large number of people, that the queue does not impede on the other business premises, and that the system satisfies Covid protocols."

Sauer furthermore said the police are the custodians of the Covid regulations and enforcement thereof therefore falls outside the mandate of municipal law enforcement. Comment from the police regarding the situation is being awaited.

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