Social distancing forgotten in long home affairs office queues
Faulty computer systems and a total disregard for social distancing have turned long queues into irritable crowds outside home affairs offices in the Eastern Cape.
Protesters gathered outside the East London office after system failures left computers offline for three days earlier this week, while a scuffle broke out outside the Port Elizabeth office on Wednesday morning after someone tried to jump the queue.
manager Home Gcinile affairs provincial Mabhulu said these incidents were out of their control, but they were doing their best to assist everyone who came to their offices as effectively as possible.
“We do what we can, but sometimes we cannot help when things go wrong,” Mabhulu said.
He said higher volumes and longer queues were the norm for this time of year, but Covid19 had made conditions a lot more challenging.
“As soon as people enter our building, we can provide hand sanitisers and enforce social distancing.
“However, while they are queuing outside we try to keep them apart, but as soon as you turn your back they try to push closer to the door.
“You will often see people pulling down their masks too.
“It is incredibly difficult to enforce the rules, and people become irritable.”
Mabhulu said technical difficulties had also added to their woes, with the East London office rendered inactive due to an online system failure at their service provider.
“The system often just hangs up. People were protesting outside the building.
“Eventually, when it came back online after three days, we struggled to restore order and get people back in proper lines.”
Yesterday, outside the home affairs offices in North End,
Port Elizabeth, hundreds of people lined up around the block for temporary IDs, birth and death certificates, and passports.
The elderly and people with disabilities were given preference, much to the dismay of others standing in line.
More than once, security guards had to push people back when they tried to swarm through the gates.
Suzie Mbethe, 64, arrived shortly after 6am to apply for a temporary ID, only to find dozens of people already lined up outside the building.
“It was chaos, because they tried to split the lines.
“One line for IDs, one line for new babies, one line for deaths.
“I could hear some people lying, because they say they are here for IDs, but then they stand in the shorter line for new babies.”
She said she was very scared because no-one was adhering to social distancing and she was Covid-19. afraid of contracting
Welma Joubert, 48, and her relatives brought camping chairs and sat outside home affairs from 5am to apply for the death certificates of relatives who had died due to Covid-19.
“I had it, my husband had it, my father died from it a few months ago, and now another relative has died from Covid,” she said.
“We have been through it, and I am shocked to see how people disregard the rules of mask and safe distances.”