“R300 to jump the queue”: Bribes buy service at Durban Home Affairs
People in long queues at home affairs in uMngeni road in Durban. People in long queues at the Department of Home Affairs branch in uMngeni Road in Durban.
Image: Doctor Ngcobo/Independent Media
FRUSTRATION and anger are boiling over at the uMngeni Road branch of the Department of Home Affairs in Durban, as citizens accuse officials and middlemen of turning public service into a cash-for-access operation.
Residents claim bribery has become entrenched at the branch, with people forced to pay up to R300 to move ahead in queues or receive any assistance at all. Those who refuse to pay are allegedly left standing for hours, sometimes returning day after day without being served.
Many of them who spoke to Independent Media asked to not be named for fear of being victimised.
A Lamontville resident, who has been visiting the branch for two weeks, said it had become impossible to get help without paying.
“When you arrive, you’re approached by people asking if you want swift service or if you want to just stand in the queue,” he said. “If you want to be served quickly, they tell you it’s R300. I’ve refused to pay, and I’ve gone home empty-handed every time. People who come at 2pm get served and leave because they’ve bribed their way in. It’s unfair.”
An Umlazi resident described the branch as “rotten to the core,” saying he had to pay so that his younger sibling could get an identity document.
“If I hadn’t paid, we wouldn’t have been helped. Now my nephew needs an ID, but I told him not to bother going, he’ll just waste his time because I can’t afford another bribe.”
A woman from KwaMashu, who has been returning to the branch for three weeks, said she had lost hope.
“You see people who came after you already leaving because they paid. The rest of us are still standing here.”
When Independent Media visited the branch earlier this week, we were approached by a man offering to arrange “swift service” for R300.
He became agitated when questioned about how the process worked, saying only that he “knew the system well.”
We also met a Grade 11 learner from Mzikazi High School in Nkandla at the branch, who said she was desperate to obtain her ID as it was needed at school.
“I’ve been here many times, but I still haven’t been helped,” she said.
Similar complaints have surfaced at other Home Affairs branches, including in Pietermaritzburg, where residents allege that a security guard was working with staff to solicit bribes from those wanting to skip queues.
Department of Home Affairs spokesperson David Shabane promised to respond to questions sent to him but failed to do so the time of publishing.
The department has previously warned the public not to pay any intermediaries or staff yet bribery continues unabated.