Chaos at the Department of Home Affairs - Cape Town

Chaos at Department of Home Affairs! On Monday 7th March 2022 at 4am I went to Home Affairs to change my green bar coded ID book to the new a smart ID card. The Department opens the doors at 8am. the queue was unbelievably long and very disorganized, with elderly people and many young mothers with their new born babies having to stand on the narrow pavement for hours in the hot sun! There were many arguments with security, as people were getting exhausted, and not attended to. When people demanded to see an official to explain why the elderly and mothers with babies where not given priority, when a department official finally came out, he was of no help, nor assistance to anyone, he simply told the crowd: Outside of the building is the responsibility of the City of Cape Town, whilst inside the building is their responsibility, so, he said, you people need to organize your own queue! It was shocking to hear that a superior officer had no empathy for the many who had been queueing since 2am, and that by 1pm they were finished. No queueing numbers were issued, and by the time it was 2pm, suddenly, the security guards said we can only allow the last 10 people in the building, the rest of you must go home and come back another day! So, after spending the night outside the building with no chairs or anything to rest on for hours under the hot sun! They were told that they didn't make it today. This was a horrible experience for anyone I spoke to, people were very angry and felt totally let down by the system. A simple thing such as getting an ID card, or a birth certificate etc, turned out to be a miserable ordeal for many. I was totally horrified, and couldn't believe how bad this system really is, and how people were treated, I have no words to describe it. In my personal view, a department of Home Affairs in such a state, it is a true reflection of the state of a Nation.