Nobody wants to go to the Department of Home Affairs but we all have to. When we’re born we need to get a birth certificate. When we turn 16 we have to get our ID. If we get married we have to get a marriage certificate. If we want to travel abroad we have to get a passport. When we die we need a death certificate. All of this happens at the great monument to bureaucracy: the DHA.
Most people seem to dread the compulsory trips to the department of Home Affairs, but I think this may be caused by the general confusion around processes. The fact is that you don’t need to go to the DHA often enough to remember how everything works. The other fact is that around 07:30 staff members will start interacting with the waiting crowds and disseminating relevant information as they go. These people are often saints as the irritable and ignorant citizens who moan about the bureaucracy as if the slow grinding gears weren’t an inherent part of all bureaucratic processes.
In any case, to offer some help to the saints and sinners gathered at the Department of Home Affairs in Edenvale, I have written this article to act as a guide. Most of the complaints around the inefficiencies often spout from the uneducated opinion that there is no system in place. But there is a system. As the South African proverb goes: “The system is offline”. Although this can occur and there is a battered LED sign outside above the entrance that permanently reads ‘SYSTEM OFFLINE’, in my recent experience this was more a warning for the impatient and those that lack perseverance. Although it is reminiscent of the warning carved into the gates of Dante’s Hell, I saw this sign as a challenge to remain hopeful rather than as a cause to lose hope.
Depending on your purpose your experience will be different. Although in each queue that forms outside the front door you will typically find fine and friendly people. The occasional preacher who subscribes to the loud type of proselytizing may come by and attempt to convert a few people who are highly incentivised to ignore him. But like the darkness of early morning, these people will soon leave and the action will begin.
Applications (ID & Passport)
Although everything can be done in person, because we live in the 21st century, part of the process can be completed online. If you’re applying for an ID or Passport the quickest process begins online at the eHomeAffairs website. Here you can fill in your application form and make your payment. You can also book a slot to capture your biometrics at a bank. Only a bank. You can’t book a slot at the DHA here. If you intend to get your biometrics taken at the Department of Home Affairs you need to visit the Brach Appointment Booking System website instead (BABS for short – in South Africa you simply need to Google search is ‘BABS’ and the top result will be what you’re looking for).
You will use the reference number from the eHome Affairs website to secure your booking on the BABS website. The open slots for making a booking are often few and far into the future. Essentially you should expect to only be able to book a slot about a month ahead. I learned this on my first attempt to have my biometrics captured at the Edenvale DHA.
You see the system begins outside, before the DHA has even opened. From around 05:00 in the morning applicants will begin to arrive and form a queue to the far right of the entrance. Against the wall where a face brick planter provides a ledge for leaning and sitting. I joined this queue but when I arrived at 07:00 it was already more than 20 people deep. This would be significant because only the first 20 applicants without appointments were allowed in. The rest of us were helped to make a booking (for a month or so later) via the BABS website.
I was applying for a new ID because I had lost mine a month before. When another month had gone by I went to the DHA again. This time for my passport and I came armed with a booked appointment slot for 09:00. I joined the queue to the left of the applicants with no appointments, just to the right of the entrance to the DHA itself. This one is for applicants that have an online appointment.
No matter which queue you’re in, you’ll be given a piece of paper to fill out with your significant details (Name, ID number, etc.), to verify your identity and connect the analog world outside with the electronic queuing system inside. Once your slip is filled out it will be collected again. After all the slips are collected the people start to file inside. The elderly and infirm, people in wheelchairs or on crutches go first, regardless of their purpose or time of arrival. Being lekker (and not a poes) means that the people waiting outside do not protest but appreciate the requisite kindness. The first queue to be let inside are the 20 or so applicants who do not have an appointment.
Next to go in are the applicants with an appointment. Inside you’re guided to a seat. At this point a staff member will usually explain the process ahead of you. This is how it goes: Your name will be called and the slip of paper that you filled out will be given back to you. This time it will have a number written on it. This is your number in the queuing system. From that point on you must listen carefully to the voice on the loudspeaker as it calls out ticket numbers and counter numbers.
First you’ll be called to the photobooths where your image and fingerprints will be captured. There are 2 photobooths at the Edenvale DHA. After this step you return to your seat in the general waiting area. Next, you’re called up to the counters in the front where your application is processed. If you have any questions about your application this is the time to ask and find clarity. If you fill in your application online this part of the process goes much quicker.
If you paid online then the process is done! You can leave and carry on with your day. If you didn’t pay online then you have to return to the waiting area until your number is called to the cashier where you can pay in person. Once payment is complete your application is complete. Congratulations! You’ll receive an SMS when your document is ready for collection. At which point you’ll come back, but join a different queue.
Collections
After a few weeks you’ll get an SMS telling you that your ID/Passport is ready to be collected. This time when you go to the Edenvale DHA you’ll queue on the left of the entrance, under the big tree where there are a couple of concrete benches. This queue also starts forming from quite early in the morning. I arrived at 06:00 and there were about 5 people in the queue ahead of me.
Around 07:30 a staff member will hand out slips of paper for you to put your name and ID number on. It’s useful to bring a pen, but usually people don’t mind sharing. These slips are collected and then the people start filing in. Once the queues of applicants have filtered into the building the queue for collections goes in. You’re directed to the right where there are seats and a counter. Behind the counter will be a staff member who will call out your name when it’s your turn to collect.
At the counter you will need to provide your signature and fingerprints for verification. You’ll be handed your new ID/Passport along with a letter explaining its safe keeping. Then you’re done! I was finished by 08:30.
What to bring
- A pen is always required. From the outset you’ll need one to fill in the slips of paper that secure your place in the electronic queue. Since I’m an early riser I tend to go for the morning rather than other times of day.
- I commit to the fact that I’ll have to queue for a few hours so I bring a book with at least 100 unread pages.
- If it’s winter I might bring along some tea to drink but I’m cautious to cause a need for the toilet because I may lose my space in the queue while running to the loo.
Other than that you shouldn’t need much more. Bring a positive attitude and an optimistic outlook. Don’t be an asshole. Be lekker. Then it won’t be such a bad time. You’ve got to do it anyway, so you might as well not complain and make it kak for those around you. Make the best of it.
