THE letter written by FJ Lund regarding the pathetic service at Pinetown Home Affairs is spot on, we went through the same experience for three days. I am 71 years old and my husband is 74 years – waiting in long queues in the boiling sun, nowhere to sit, and no toilets, is not acceptable.
When we eventually got inside and were about 20 from the front, everything came to a stand still, the machines had gone off line, we waited for another hour then we were all told to go home, another day another wait.
On the third day we were eventually issued with our new ID card.
Then off to SASSA to apply for our government pensioner card.
We joined the queue of gogos and young mothers with their tiny babies and toddlers, at least there are benches to sit on and a roof over your head and clean toilets.
We were politely ushered inside and told where to wait and wait we did, nobody is in a hurry, there are about 13 booths and only three staff members behind them.
I went off to find the lady in charge and asked her why there were so few staff members working, were the others at the back chatting, she could not answer me.
But suddenly 10 minutes later they came to the front then things began to move a bit faster.
When we eventually got to a booth a very polite lady served us, but she kept getting disrupted by another staff member coming to ask questions, then she had to wait while somebody used her computer chatting to each other all the time, while we waited and waited.
Then she told us we needed new ID cards (that’s when the Home Affairs problem started).
With our new ID cards we went back to SASSA, we got inside quite quickly and ushered to a booth, the lady slowly went through all our papers, went off a few times, came back and put our papers in a file, this file then went to the second booth and we were told to wait, our papers were looked through again, a few questions asked, stamp, stamp and the file was handed to third booth, eventually when it got to the fourth booth we were told there was a slight problem we must go over there and wait.
Nobody could tell us what the problem was, it was now lunch time, six hours later and most staff go off to lunch and we still didn’t know what the problem was.
Eventually a gentleman came and said there was a problem with my address I must go to the Pinetown Civic Centre and get a form, so we walked there and joined a short queue, the gentleman behind the desk was not interested, we got no greeting, he put my ID number on the form, stamped it and passed it to me totally bored with the whole procedure.
Back to SASSA the form was put into my file and we joined the last queue, it was now 3pm.
We eventually got to the front fingerprints taken and low and behold at 3.45pm, nine and a half hours later we got our card.
We asked them what we do now, and were told to be at New Germany hall on 20 April to get our first pay.
On the afternoon of 19 April my husband phoned SASSA to confirm that we must be at New Germany between 8 and 10am.
We got there only to be told that we should be at Pinetown Civic Centre they were not doing the pay out there that month, they thought they had told everybody?
There were other people arriving. We then joined the queue of gogos and waited. We could not believe it when at last we got our first pay-out.
My gosh, what a run around.
I am writing this letter not only for us but for all those hundreds of other people out there who wait for hours day after day, they have to catch taxis or buses to get there and back at a cost, it is so unfair.
Something has to be done to improve the situation for all concerned.
JJ Stanley
Pinetown
