PRETORIA: The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) had launched a pilot programme designed to cut out waiting time and long queues.

The system has been linked to the country’s population register so that South Africans can book an appointment with their ID numbers at its branches online.

The DHA says this will prevent the illegal blocking of slots by agents intent on selling them to those queueing.

The system is currently in a pilot phase at high-volume Home Affairs branches, and there are presently eight that have implemented the system.

These eight are Tongaat and Ndwedwe (KwaZulu-Natal), Pretoria and Akasia (Gauteng) and Cape Town, Bellville, Paarl and Wynberg (Western Cape).

Plans are for the booking system to be available as a mobile app translated into several official South African languages.

However, the pilot system is currently only available through the DHA’s website.

Darul Ihsan Media Desk