A question that begs to be answered: how to beat the queue at the Department of Home Affairs, not just in Cape Town, but at any of the 184 office ready branches across South Africa that provide smart ID cards and other identity documents to the citizens of the rainbow nation.
The answer is…
Sadly, there is no way to beat the queue at Home Affairs. All you can do is wait and wait and wait…Then, just as you think the wait is finally over, load-shedding kicks in and all systems go down. Now what? You wait and you wait in line for 3 hours and hope your number gets called before the close of business…
Wait…your turn
You wait and you wait and you wait, while you hope and pray. Why? Because the ruling Party forgot to include generators in the budget for Home Affairs. Now what? You wait, your turn.
How long does the queue at Home Affairs take? (on average)
Take it from someone who lives a stone’s throw away from the Department of Home Affairs on Barrack Street in Cape Town.
From personal experience, no less than 3 and a half hours (3.5hrs). That is correct and that is if you are lucky.
There’s always a queue numerous queues with groups upon groups of people camping out on the pavements of the East City, all living on a prayer that they’ve joined the right queue before they dare dream to get their name on at least one of the “lists” and gain access to the building.
When it was time for me to renew my passport, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and get my ID card done at the same time.This was my experience and these are my tips to beat, not the queue per say, but the urge to harm security, yourself or any of the fellow comrades who are there for the very same reason as you are. patience is indeed a virtue my friends, so buckle up and suck it up, cause everyone waits in line at Home Affairs, 99.99% of the time, unless you are lucky, like me…
Best day of the week to visit Home Affairs
Any day, apart from Saturday and Sunday, when the offices are officially closed. Really, it makes no difference. I went on a Monday, randomly, after putting it off for weeks.
Best time to join one of the many queues at Home Affairs
If you want to be first in line, a late-night / early-morning rendezvous session at Mavericks is an excellent option. Treat your lap to a dance until 4am and jump straight into the Home Affairs queue as you exist! The thought only occurred to me when I rocked up there at 5.25am, only to be nr.19 on the list for Passports and IDs. Had I arrived one second later, I would have sat on the pavement until well after 9am, like the guy who was parking as I arrived.
Figuring out what queue to join
There were only two queues on the morning of my visit:
queue 1 – passport and ID applications
queue 2 – temporary ID applications
What’s the difference? The word temporary? Maybe. Who knows what’s the difference? In my humble opinion, temporary sounds like one needs to return, again…and wait…but why??? Therefore, pick queue 1.
What to do when your number gets called
Make sure you are there… if anything. If not, sorry for you. Best you try again. Stay alert, keep your ears open and once your number gets called be sure to claim your spot before someone tries to jump the queue.
Average time to process applications at Home Affairs
When you finally make the cut, expect to spend roughly 60 minutes on the inside of any Home Affairs office. The reason why everything takes so long? The computer systems take forever and a day to update, according to the operators/staff at Home Affairs.
How long to process a SA passport and ID card
2 weeks for a passport.
3 to 4 weeks for a new ID card.
Not bad, considering…
