Home Affairs Online Booking System Draws Criticism, South Africans Not Impressed: “That Is a Joke”
- Home Affairs introduced the Branch Appointment Booking System (BABS) to improve efficiency
- Citizens are encouraged to use the online system to schedule appointments at Home Affairs
- South Africans are not impressed with the system, saying that it doesn't work as well
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It's been almost one year since the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) launched its Branch Appointment Booking System (BABS), but not everyone is a fan of it.
The system was introduced to make services more accessible by reducing long queues and improving efficiency.
What is BABS?
The system offers citizens a chance to schedule an appointment online instead of queueing at a Home Affairs branch in the morning.
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To book an appointment, citizens can visit www.dha.gov.za and click on the BABS link.
They can then schedule appointments at selected branches across the country.
Home Affairs encouraged everyone to use the online booking system to avoid long queues and get served at dedicated counters.
To see which branches cater for BABS, you can click here.
South Africans aren't impressed with BABS
Social media users aren't fans of the system and have criticised it for being unorganised.
Baile Nakedi said:
"That thing doesn't work. We are just forced to make appointments. You book an appointment for 1 pm to 2 pm, but they will attend you at 4 pm."
Earl Samuels added:
"It's also useless to do an online booking. I had a booking for 12noon till 1 pm, but I only came out of Home Affairs at 4:30 pm.
Heather Clark stated:
"That is a joke."
Izak van Niekerk said:
"Unorganised and unprofessional service that's very undisciplined."
@BayoNdimandeSA explained:
“I’ve tried booking on your BABS system at every hour, day, morning, midnight, and it still won’t work. Went to Home Affairs Durban CBD for help, and security turned me away when I asked for assistance. I’m at a loss here.”
Home Affairs fires 18 officials
In a related article, DHA proved their commitment to turning things around by firing 18 crooked officials.
Minister Leon Schreiber said that the dismissals served as a warning to other corrupt officials in the department.
Briefly News reported that South Africans were thrilled that the department was finally clamping down on corruption.
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Source: Briefly News
