Applications deleted at Home Affairs due to load shedding - DA

THE DA has written to the Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, to urgently address the issue of applications being deleted due to load shedding.

This comes as the DA said it had discovered there was a possibility that there could be similar cases in other state departments.

DA deputy spokesperson on Home Affairs Adrian Roos said it was extremely concerning that residents would complete an application, but be required to re-apply on the day of collection.

Roos said this was discovered during their visit to the Bronkhorstspruit Home Affairs office in Pretoria.

“It was found that there are cases where citizens apply for an ID or passport, complete the application and receive a valid receipt. A few weeks later when they return to the office to find out why the documents are not ready they find that the application was completely deleted due to load shedding that causes the system to go offline,” Roos said.

He said it was a completely unacceptable waste of time for the residents.

“There can be no compromise on database replication and power failure systems in place for secure systems that contain such sensitive information,” he said.

Roos further stated that Motsoaledi had to date failed to answer a DA parliamentary question posed in October requesting a list of the Home Affairs offices with no functioning generators or uninterrupted power supply system and by when emergency power supply systems would be installed in each of these offices.

He said in 2019 a detailed report highlighted electricity and environmental issues as major causes of system downtime including uninterrupted power supply devices not kicking in, no power back-up or not having fuel in generators when power fails.

“The lethargy in having these issues addressed is difficult to understand, given the severity of their impact. Ministers enjoy generators at their residences at taxpayer expense and are completely disconnected from the effects of load shedding,” said Roos.

He added that the DA would conduct oversights to ensure that the issue was addressed without delay.