Clearing Up The Confusion

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DHABS aka Department Home Affairs Booking System which I had no clue it existed due to the main site saying no booking is required.

Over the last few weeks I have been trying to renew my South African passport with no luck mainly down to mixed signals and confusion. Government departments have always been a lottery when it comes to servicing their customers and usually you never leave you with a sense of gratitude and thanks.

In December I renewed my driving license and that was kind of painless even though I had a booking time and took a few hours to accomplish. The last time I was there it took me the entire day so having the booking times has definitely sped up the process.

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The website clearly states bookings are not required.

Two weeks ago I went to Home Affairs at the crack of dawn which is pre 7pm for me only to be met with a queue that was already 500 strong. The first 3 hours were as expected with no movement what so ever and was seriously contemplating the company that advertises people who stand in line for you and call you when it is close. After over 4 hours I was informed by a Home Affairs official I had to book a time slot so I left to do just that online.

The online Home Affairs websites stated you could pay upfront and register, but a booking time was not necessary. With the proof of registration in hand I returned 2 days later only to be ushered away yet again having been told a booking time is required and to use DHABS. I have never heard of DHABS before and once you know you know I suppose as this is the booking part of the website for allocating times avoiding the queues.

This last Thursday I had a 2pm booking slot and chose the venue that had the earliest date which happened to be 40 miles away. This Home Affairs Department was in a dodgy area which is like most town centers in South Africa being run down and filthy with abandoned buildings littering the main streets.

The big difference was there was no queue and hardly anyone around which was the opposite of what I had experienced thus far at my local Home Affairs office. I signed in at reception with only one person ahead of me and moved on to having digital photographs even though I had bought my own with me. The time the entire process took was 6 minutes and I was already finished before my booking time as I was 10 minutes early. I have to return in 2 weeks to collect the passport and it is quite unbelievable really as this particular government department was working how things should. This is the first time in over 20 years where I actually had a good experience and felt sorry for all those people queuing at my local branch.

The booking system works yet the lady who helped me told me she processes 40 applicants daily which is only 2-3 hours work and why the place is so quiet. Civil servants are known to not exactly have the highest work ethic and why should we be surprised by seeing an underworked office. Imagine if she processed 100 applicants daily there would be no waiting time and possibly this is how they protect their jobs. Still I was left gob smacked because this was a pleasant experience and not what I was expecting. It was a rough start for sure, but ended up well which is what counts.