Home Affairs implements Three major changes

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) says it is changing its business model in South Africa, with a greater emphasis on mobile unit operations.

The department stated to the portfolio committee on home affairs on Tuesday (8 November) that it is in the process of rolling out more mobile units to serve remote and rural communities across the country.

It is expected that this fleet of mobile units will eventually outnumber its static offices and become the department’s primary service channel.

There are currently 110 mobile units spread across the provinces. These units focus on rural communities that must frequently travel long distances to access DHA services. There are 106 units deployed in these areas, with four units stationed at headquarters for special projects and testing new initiatives, according to the statement.

In the current fiscal year, 20 more mobile units will be deployed, with plans to acquire even more in the future. The department stated that there is a need for 800 service points across the country, but this does not imply that it will have that many units.

As there are areas where there is no 3G connection, the department is also upgrading its fleet with Flat panel VSAT units for better connectivity. This contributes to the department’s other changes concerning connectivity and network capacity.

The push for more mobile service points in the country is part of the DHA’s larger goal of reducing long lines and downtime at offices.

Managing network outages

The department has tried several initiatives to address these issues over the last few years, but they persist. It informed the portfolio committee that it had identified key roadblocks, the majority of which revolved around the core infrastructure of the State Information Technology Agency (SITA).

According to the DHA, SITA’s core network is under severe strain, and both the DHA and SITA are hampered by ageing infrastructure. According to an assessment of the department’s technology, 61 of 398 DHA-owned Wide Area Network sites are obsolete. 398 of the 450 Local Area Network devices are obsolete.

Other significant issues identified include data centre fragmentation, which increases latency; back-end bloat with software applications; and severely limited bandwidth, which causes bottlenecks.

According to the report, bandwidth has become a major issue. With increased use of video conferencing and growing datasets, networks are experiencing unprecedented demand. According to the DHA, bandwidth at some sites is less than 1Mbps. While the department is upgrading to 2Mbps, it wants to go as high as 1Gbps to 10Gbps because bandwidth is in high demand.

DHA and SITA have contracted Broadband Infraco to upgrade infrastructure to help with network downtime. SITA has committed R400 million over five years to overhauling its core network, with R159 million already spent.

Dealing with network outages not only reduces queues and frustrations at Home Affairs branches, but also pleases banks, allowing the department to expand its services to more bank branches across the country.

Appointment scheduling software

The department is also expanding the country’s Branch Appointment and Booking System (BABS).

The system is now operational at 162 front offices in South Africa, up from 24 pilot offices previously, but it is limited to Smart ID and passport applications only, so the department is using a hybrid model.

Customers who have used the system have reported great success and ease of use, with wait times significantly reduced and services rendered in under 30 minutes. Since June 2022, over 200,000 people have used the system.

According to the department, 34 more offices are currently in the process of implementing the system, with these sites expected to go live by the end of November 2022.

Further developments for the BABS include expanding the system beyond applications to include collections and providing tablets to sites that use the system so that South Africans who do not have access to a computer to make online bookings can use the system.

The DHA also stated that it is looking into zero-rating access to Home Affairs websites so that users are not charged for using the systems.