REGIONAL OFFICE: RICHARDS BAY - HOME AFFAIRS: REPORT BACK KHAEDU PROJECT

AGENDA  SITUATION  COMPLICATIONS  SUGGESTIONS

KEY MESSAGE The Department of Home Affairs, Richards Bay provides a quality service to its clients largely because of assistance by volunteers from the municipality. The office is well run with relatively satisfied customers and staff workload well balanced compared to other District Offices and service points but the process needs to improved. PMDS is not aligned to the operational plan and the strategic plan thus needs to be redesigned as the budget is not implemented according to targets.

SITUATION Process analysis  The office is open to the public from 08h00 to 15h00.Peak Time 08:00 -13:00 when there are approximately 40 clients spread across all Civic Service Counters.  Between 13:00 – 15:00 there are approximately clients at the Cashier’s counter only and 2 – 3 at the other counters.  It takes on average 2 ½ hours to complete the process.  Resources that are used are mostly stationery in type which ranges between the actual application forms and the resources needed to do fingerprints.

SITUATION Physical Data  The office is relatively accessible to its clients in the Richards Bay area, the signage is visible and the facility is well maintained  Vision and mission are clearly displayed at reception whilst there is no one to assist clients.  Services rendered are costed and displayed at reception  Staff members complete application forms for all clients irrespective of the literacy level and the forms are only available in English  Long queues causes poor process flow especially in the ID section and lead to bottlenecks.  Location of public ablution facilities is not accessible to clients and thus not user friendly.  There is only one suggestion box at the entrance point, which is not visible and clients do not use it and this affects the feedback mechanism.  National programmes e.g. Employee Wellness program,OHS are not implemented.  The staircase is not user-friendly especially not for the physically challenged.

Organisational redesigning needs to be aligned to the workload.  The office consists of the departments of Administration, Civic Services, Immigrations and the Mobile Service Points.  Management consists of 3 posts of which 2 are filled and 1 is vacant and Operational staff are 19 of which 2 posts are still vacant. (total=21)  Reporting Relationships and Decision Making: Refer to structure, below.

The current organizational structure does not meet the needs of clients whilst the proposed structure is overstaffed. (see below and next slide.)

SUGGESTED ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

The floor plan obstructs the process flow in other areas.  The office is relatively accessible to its clients in the Richards Bay area, the signage is visible and the facility is well maintained  Vision and mission are clearly displayed at reception whilst there is no one to assist clients.  Services rendered are costed and displayed at reception  Staff members complete application forms for all clients irrespective of the literacy level and the forms are only available in English  Long queues causes poor process flow especially in the ID section and lead to bottlenecks.  Location of public ablution facilities is not accessible to clients and thus not user friendly.  There is only one suggestion box at the entrance point, which is not visible and clients do not use it and this affects the feedback mechanism.  National programmes e.g. Employee Wellness program,OHS are not implemented.  The staircase is not user-friendly especially not for the physically challenged.

The staff is generally unhappy about career progression, PMDS and communication with management.  The morale of the staff is low because of no career progression  Most of them have been in the same post for more than 10 years  Help Desk Office is unoccupied causing people to move around and sitting in wrong queues only to restart the process in other counters.  All permanent employees are visible and identifiable as they wear nametags  The Office relies largely on assistance of volunteers in civic services.  Communication doesn’t always filter down to staff as no formal and regular meetings for all staff are held.  Performance Management and Development System is not properly implemented and employees feel that in other instances its abused.  formal training is not available to all staff Poor feedback mechanism on processing of IDs  As per the office documentation, multi-skilling is reflected, particularly in the area of the Civic Services.  There is a relationship with the Unions. However, the Shopsteward could not be interviewed.

Staff survey including management.

Staff survey excluding management.

The ratio of staff to activity Variation in staff workload is significant E.g. District Offices in October Variation in staff workload is significant on average between different office structures. The proposed structure is overstaffed. Check the ratio of staff to workload which shows poor work planning.

SITUATION Financial Data Red tape: – Delegation powers are very limited E.g. budgets – Human resource management – Procurement Long overall processes reliant on Pretoria E.g. ID Book up to 3-6 months

LEAVE MANAGEMENT: STAFF VS WORKLOAD.The passport section is very busy in August and September thus the leave plan should correspond with peak months.

STATISTICS - PASSPORTS

STATISTICS – IDENTITY DOCUMENTS

The financial situation is complicated by the fact that there is no devolution of powers even for smaller items. Red tape: – Delegation powers are very limited E.g. budgets – Human resource management – Procurement Long overall processes reliant on Pretoria E.g. ID Book up to 3-6 months

COMPLICATIONS Very different levels of utilization of services both at the District Offices, Service points and mobile units Signage not translated into other provincial languages Clients not clarified on the utilization of services, e.g completion of forms Performance Management System is not properly implemented.

COMPLICATIONS Red tape: – Delegation powers are very limited E.g. budgets – Human resource management – Procurement Long overall processes reliant on Pretoria E.g. ID Book up to 3-6 months Communication doesn’t always filter down to staff The office and the mobile service points are underutilized. There is low client turn around in the afternoon.

COMPLICATIONS Very different levels Of services both at the District office, Service points and Mobile units Signage not translated Into other provincial languages Clients not clarified on Internal procedures And processes Performance Management And development System is not Properly implemented Red tape: -Delegation of powers Limited -HRM -procurement Long overall processes Reliant on Pretoria,e.g ID Book Up to 3-6 mths. Communication doesn’t always Filter down to staff Disgruntled staff Heavily reliant on volunteers Communication Not cascading To all levels No pre-scheduled Meetings Between staff And management Transparency When Dealing with recruitment, Budget, PMDS

COMPLICATIONS CONTINUED … Proposed establishment Not aligned to the workload in permits And civic affairs. Operational plan not aligned To The national strategic Plan Some staff members not appearing On the organogram. EWP, OHS, not implemented

SUGGESTIONS Marketing of Service points Translation Of signage Into Local languges Recruitment Of a Help desk officer Formal training On PMDS for all staff Regular Feedback meetings Regular Meetings And feedback To all Devolution And delegation of powers Appoint permanent staff Review of Post Establishment By work-study National Strategic Plan be aligned with Operational and communicated Regularize placement And recruitment Implementation Of All National Programs A.S.A.P