Waters tables questions about Edenvale Home Affairs in parliament
"From the information gathered, there is no proof that the client was manhandled or assaulted by the official," was the response in parliament.
Opposition party members recently tabled questions about the Edenvale Home Affairs in parliament.
The DA’s Mike Waters tabled questions about the number of complaints received by the Department of Home Affairs regarding staff conduct at the Edenvale Home Affairs since January 1 this year.
He also questioned what disciplinary measures were in place to deal with incidents where department employees and officials did not act in a professional and courteous manner towards individuals.
Response
The response received in parliament was that no formal complaints about conduct or attitude of officials were brought to the attention of management, except for an alleged case of assault on one of the clients on May 4. Read previous article here: Residents opens case against Edenvale Home Affairs official after alleged assault.
The client was requested to lodge a formal complaint to allow the department to investigate. The client refused and indicated that she will lay formal charges with the police.
Waters was told despite the unavailability of a formal complaint from the client, an internal investigation was conducted to confirm and verify the allegations made by the client.
“From the information gathered, there is no proof that the client was manhandled or assaulted by the official,” was the response in parliament.
Responding to Waters’ questions on disciplinary measures, he was told the office displays the names and contact details of the office managers and district managers to enable clients to report matters of misconduct.
“Officials of Home Affairs wear name tags at all times to enable clients to identify officials when reporting. The department has a code of conduct that talks to the acceptable behaviour and conduct of officials. There is an Employee Engagement Chief Directorate that is responsible for managing discipline in the department and to charge deviant employees with misconduct. The management of conduct and discipline is governed in terms of the disciplinary code and procedures for the Public Service as provided,” Waters was told.
