Restoring services after violent protests satisfies Home Affairs committee

The Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs is satisfied with intervention measures implemented by the Department of Home Affairs following the violence and looting in KwaZuluNatal and Gauteng, writes Malatswa Molepo. The committee conducted oversight visits in the two provinces, where it assessed the impact of the violence on service delivery and government interventions.

“We are comfortable with the measures put in place by the department, especially the decision to move the registration-of-death service to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. The intervention ensures that services are rendered, although not at the Bara Mall office,” said Mr Mosa Chabane, the leader of the delegation.

The committee reemphasised its condemnation of the violence and looting, which led to the loss and damage of critical assets. The department reported that at the Bara Mall office, two computers, fingerprint and barcode scanners, routers and electrical wiring were destroyed.

While the committee acknowledged that the Bara Mall office was a small office intended to only render limited service, it remains concerned that the residents decided to vandalise and destroy infrastructure that serves them. “We can’t comprehend how such a decision was arrived at, given that the very same community will be inconvenienced by the unavailability of those services,” Mr Chabane emphasised.

Regarding the reopening of the Bara Mall office, which has ample space and infrastructure to enable social distancing, the committee is concerned to hear that the community around the mall is impeding its refurbishment, particularly the Home Affairs office. The committee welcomed the department’s intention to make funding available for the office refurbishment to ensure it reopens and renders services to the people.

In Mamelodi, the committee welcomed the assurance that vandalism was minimal and that services are being rendered as expected. “The provision of quality services to our people is our central preoccupation and we are satisfied with the assurances given by the department of services being delivered to the people,” Mr Chabane concluded.