Dept Home Affairs nightmare

What a night mare to apply for a renewal of your South African passport. The Dept's website is most user unfriendly and states clearly if you pay through a bank, you do not need an appointment, but should merely visit a branch. To my surprise, I was informed by the Nedbank Lakeview branch in Roodepoort that I need to go to either ABSA Sandton or Krugersdorp. I travelled all the way to Krugersdorp just to leave again without any submitted application. Why can't a person merely go into a branch, sit in line and pay either cash or with your credit card? There is no difference between the potholes and the Dept of Home Affairs.