NATIONAL NEWS - Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba will apply a “brutal, zero tolerance approach” to staff who were underperforming since poor management of staff contributed to frustrating long queues at the departments.

Gigaba announced the “war on queues” in Pretoria yesterday, saying he would immediately respond to complaints and queries by the public regarding the time-consuming service at the home affairs offices.

Customers across the city, especially the Centurion office, expressed frustration and irritation with department officials cutting off the queue long before closing time despite the fact some people had queued since the early morning.

Many took to social media to vent their frustration, stating they would have to take another day off work to return as they were turned away by officials.

“Got there at 09:00 and was told they cut the line already for the day. Now how does that work?” asked Dipuo Lata.

Resident Eleanor Momberg said she was turned away after she was told by officials that they were “too busy”.

“They only opened at 9am. If you want a passport or ID, you have to go to Pretoria central home affairs. Really? There are only about 30 of us in the queue,”  she said.

An assessment report compiled by the department showed that poor management and poor utilisation of staff in some offices were contributing factors to long queues, Gigaba said.

Read more on the Caxton publication, The Citizen.