President Ramaphosa unveils Home Affairs Kiosk in Mokopane

His excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa accompanied by Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and Limpopo Premier Stanley Chupu Mathabatha, unveiled home affairs kiosk yesterday in Mokopane. The groundbreaking initiative is built in an ATM bank structure formant and has self-service points.

This cutting-edge innovation will be placed at malls across the country to effectively assist clients with immediate documentation requests. Services will only be limited to those already in the home affairs system for the re issue of birth, marriage and death certificates which will be printed immediately by the machine after required information has been entered and authentication of fingerprints.

The machine also accepts bank cards for payment of re-issue of documents. First time applicants will not be able to use the kiosk as they need to be assisted at the nearest home affairs offices for verification procedures but, application such as the passport and smart identity document can be applied by securing an appointment in the branch using the kiosk.

The day included the official opening of the new offices that are equipped with the latest technology. The new premises have been operational for three weeks since the relocation from the previous ones that were relatively small.

The much-anticipated structure has costed government about 30 million and will service the entire Waterberg district even though it’s located in Mokopane.

Waterberg District coordinator Mr Benny Francis shared impact made by the opening of this new facility.

“We are very delighted by this because the community waited for a very long time, besides the change of location these offices were built with upgraded technology which makes the service faster because it has multiple service station and photo booths, which increases the number of clients assisted simultaneously and clients waiting period has been reduced to 50% than what it previously used to be. And now, it has built shade for the waiting area outside the offices to protect clients from the sun and rain”.

Unveiling 100 mobile offices known as home affairs on wheels, president Ramaphosa said it will make home affairs services accessible to the remote communities by improving accessibility of service delivery.

“ Government is moving forward with technology because, these tracks are equipped to give you the exact same services as the ones at the normal offices. You can apply for IDs and passports, and you will get them within the same turn around time as the one that applied at the branch. These trucks have information of all 62 million people within the boarders of our country. This is a massive intervention by government, and I plead with you to take care of them and guard them against criminal activities. I am happy that today we opened offices, home affairs on wheels and the kiosk, this is a huge milestone by this government. Said Ramaphosa

Out of the 100 mobile offices, only 14 of them will remain in Limpopo province while others will be distributed across the country guided by population and number of branches in the province.

Couples are allowed to get married using the home affairs on wheels and get their marriage certificates.

The trucks were already providing service during the unveiling with most people applying for IDs. Betty Phele from Sekgakgapeng village was one of the people that used the opportunity to apply for her 16 year old daughter’s ID.

“ We appreciate what government is doing for us, I came here for the event and now I go back to the village being assisted with essential documents for myself and daughter and, in the process saved money and time that will have cost me if I did not honour this event”.