WeeklySA_AdminINEPT: Members of the public share heartbreak experiences at some government offices in the province…
By Robert Tlapu
Is it Home or Horror Affairs? This is what members of the public have been asking each time they visit the Mankwe branch in Mogwase, north of Rustenburg, and are greeted by a “TEMPORARILY CLOSED” sign at the door. Not once, so many times.
Yet, the branch has a huge power generator installed in the yard, which should provide alternative power supply during loadshedding, but the contraption has not been working for over two years.
Every single day most residents who come from various villages and townships in the Moses Kotare district in the North West leave their respective homes in the early hours of the morning, hoping to beat long queues often – much to their disappointment – without success. On a lucky day, ‘early birds’ hit the jackpot and find lights on and even the computer systems working.
Daily, as early as 6am, the Home Affairs precinct is a hive of activity as buses offload people from various villages around the district municipality region. They come to the branch to apply or fetch documents like death, birth certificates, IDs and passports.
If is unusual for some to unfortunately leave the branch without receiving any help after spending the entire day at the branch without been attended to, due to problems such as electricity loadshedding and Home Affairs system being offline.
Not so long ago, a bereaved family, speaking to WSAM on condition of anonymity, shared a story of coming to the branch to fetch a death certificate before opening its doors to the public at 7.30am, but leaving disappointed after a long wait. Unfortunately for them, there was loadshedding scheduled between 11am and 3pm in the area, which saw the family having to leave the branch without the death certificate. They then had to come back days later to complete the application process, and were lucky this time around, but it turned out an expensive exercise because of travelling costs.
WSAM reporter spoke to one angry family member, who said: “This is not fair on us, and how are we going to make claims at insurances without the death certificate? Why is the generator not working? Now we have lost R500 on transport cost to come here, so we going to spend another R500 on Monday”.
Two people that WSAM spoke too, shared similar experiences. Tshegofatso Maake, a resident of Lerome village said she was returning for the seventh time to the branch, in an attempt to apply for a passport. “Each time I come here, it is either the branch is offline or there is no electricity due to load shedding, but they have a huge generator, why are they not fixing it. I use two taxis which cost me R25 a single trip, so imagine how much I have spent already. But I managed to apply for the passport finally, because I really needed it for our trip to Swaziland,” a relieved Maake said.
Olebogeng Nthole of Moruleng also shared almost similar frustrations, “I applied online and booked a slot on April 2023), but we couldn’t get help on time and load shedding happened. Then we had to go to Rustenburg branch on Monday and we managed to apply for the passport”. They spent almost R200 on transport fares to visit both branches.
A talk radio station Power FM caller Bethuel from Makapanstad said he went to the branch at the Nafcoc building in Soshanguve, but unfortunately did not receive any assistance.
“I travelled from Makapanstad to Soshanguve which cost me R85 a single trip to collect my smart card ID. I was there very early, and when the branch finally opened at 8am, we were told the branch was offline. They only got online around 10:30am, and at 11h00 there was loadshedding. The power came back hours later, and we were told the system takes a while to kick in, and it was just after 3pm. One lady told me she was visiting the branch for the eighth time. Each time she had not been attended to because the branch had no lights or was offline”.
According to a source who spoke to WSAM anonymously, the generator stopped working in 2021 but had not been fixed since. Questions sent to three individuals responsible for the Mankwe Home Affairs, Branch Manager Nkhensani Ndlovu, District Operations Manager Noko Setoaba and Provincial Manager Eunice Mhlanga, but they all referred the WSAM to Home Affairs spokesperson Siyabulela Qoza.
Eventually an email with media related questions were sent to Qoza, who acknowledged he received the query and promised to respond. Later, after numerous emails and phone calls to Qoza, still had not responded.
With weeks gone by with no luck of getting any response from Mr. Qoza, WSAM sent an email to the department’s Chief of Staff, Modupi Maisela ka Mdluli, for an intervention. He requested Qoza to attend to our complaint. Days went by with no response from Qoza once again. A follow-up email was sent to Maisela ka Mdluli, who responded, “I spoke to the MLO (media liason officer) last week and he informed me that he called you but you were not available”.
Finally, it took Mr. Qoza a period of six weeks to respond to the enquiry. In a short phone call, he said “we have ordered a new generator from overseas, and I am told it is at the harbour. I will send you full details in a moment.” By the time of going to print, he still hasn’t sent the details.
GAUTENG
EARNS DUBIOUS WILD WEST STATUS
GRIM STATS: Murder, hijackings, assault, rape, shoplifting and stock theft on the rise
By Ali Mphaki
Death stalks Gauteng residents more than in any other part of the country, if the latest provincial crime stats released by General Elias Mawela this week are anything to go by.
With a population of about 10-million people, the SAPS recorded a total of 25 181 murder cases from January to March this year – a staggering 26.1 increase in the murder rate or more exactly 5 209 more people killed during this period compared to last year.
As if to show people of Gauteng have a short fuse and prefer to settle their scores physically, the SAPS also recorded 22 095 attempted murder case during the same period – an 18.1 percent increase or 3 388 more cases.
Attempted assault cases also increased drastically, with 19 449 more cases reported than the previous year, which brings the total for this year’s first three months to 162 842 cases.
The men in blue were also kept busy with common assault cases, with 169 963 cases reported, 20 521 more than the previous year.
In such a volatile environment, women find themselves more vulnerable, with 41 739 rape cases reported. When you add sexual assault, attempted sexual assault it brings the total of sexual offences to 52 694.
Noticeable, however, is though there was a 6 480 increase in sexual offences cases, the period under review is somewhat of an improvement compared to 2012/13 when 60 888 such cases were reported.
If you thought you were safe being in your car, think again. Hijacking cases rose from 16 731 last year to 20 923 cases for the period under review.
This translates into 4 192 more hijackings than last year. Not to be outdone, truck hijackings also went up to 1 741 cases, 344 more of such cases.
Seemingly undeterred, cash-in-heists criminals kept the SAPS busy, with 238 cases reported, up from 43 last year. While your home is supposed to be your castle, brazen Gauteng criminals went on to committee robberies at 21 832 residential properties.
Business properties were not spared either, with 20 012 non-residential properties robbed. For whatever reason, shoplifters were hard at work but these would see a total of 12 379 cases reported to the police.
The stats would also show 15 197 of shoplifting cases were reported during 2012/13. Gauteng may be a cosmopolitan area but it will come as a pleasant surprise that stock theft is also on the rise.
The SAPS say they had to deal with 5 901 of such cases – a drop of 342 last year. Though seemingly overwhelmed the SAPS were able to record some successes, recording 4 022 incidents of crime detection by police to recover guns and ammunition. All in all crime detected as a result of police action, which includes alcohol and drugs resulted in 68 658 of such cases.
Speaking to local media Brigadier Mawela said in their analysis of the crime stats it was obvious there were lots of assault (with grievous bodily harm) and common assault cases which only goes to show people unable to resolve their misunderstandings amicably.
A total of 1 721 people were murdered in the province during the quarter, which was an increase of 151 compared to the previous year. Mawela said 278 women were killed during the last quarter of 2022, an increase of 89 compared to the same period in 2021, adding that most women and children were killed by people known to them.
According to Mawela, 44 children were murdered. The murder weapons included firearms, knives and other sharp instruments, stones, rocks, bricks and blunt objects. On the question of firearms Brigadier Mawela said their recovery of firearms was very high and that the SAPS was concerned about the proliferation of weapons.
“This doesn’t mean that only illegal firearms are used to commit crime. Licensed firearms are also being used in the wrong way. I am pleased with what our officers are doing to recover firearms from the wrong hands.
“Our marching orders are simple: Our officers are out there looking for all firearms in the wrong hands,” Mawela said.
