Question NW3540 to the Minister of Home Affairs

Reply:

(a) The Department has been looking at establishing an office in Knysna for a few years now, amongst others, but due to the lack of funding was unable to do so. The Department has embarked on an extensive study to revise and align the department’s access model with service delivery demand. A funding proposal for newly proposed offices and service points as per the approved DHA Access Model were submitted to the National Treasury.

In the interim, to service Knysna and surrounding areas, an on line access point was established and capacitated with effect from 01 September 2022, at the Knysna Public Health Facility. The access point at the health facility will be issuing critical enabling documents such as (1) birth registration for children born within 30 days from the birth event and (2) render death registration functions.

Mobile Units, from the Plettenbergbay Office, also currently render services to the Knysna community and surrounding areas upon request from the Municipality. All schools in the area were serviced by Mobile Units earlier in the year to ensure that all matriculants were enabled with their ID documents. The Plettenbergbay Office also facilitated outreach programmes in collaboration with the Municipality. They recently serviced Khayalethu and was part of the Municipal Project for dealing with destitute persons living on the street.

The DHA Mobile Units will also form part of the upcoming Provincial Government Thusong Programme which is due to take place in the Knysna area on 18 and 19 October 2022.

(b) The range of services rendered through Mobile Units are birth registration, smart ID cards applications and collections, passport applications and collections, re-printing of birth, marriage and death certificates, rectifications and amendment applications and the issuance of temporary ID Certificates.

END