By Mapaballo Borotho

- Home Affairs has introduced a new booking system that requires users to create profiles linked to their ID numbers and email addresses.
- The department says the upgrade will prevent syndicates and scammers from hoarding and selling appointment slots.
- Officials believe the new system will improve access to essential services for ordinary South Africans.
Selling Home Affairs booking slots could become a thing of the past following the introduction of a new booking system linked to ID numbers.
The Department of Home Affairs has introduced a new online booking system on its platform, aimed at enhancing security measures and preventing the abuse of appointment slots.
South Africans will now be required to create an online profile linked to their ID number and email address before making a booking. The department says this will help ensure that appointments remain available to legitimate clients.
“The upgrade follows years of abuse of the previous booking platform by syndicates and other unscrupulous individuals who exploited vulnerabilities in the system to block appointment slots and sell them on to desperate citizens. As a result, many ordinary South Africans struggled to secure appointments for essential Home Affairs services,” said Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber.
“For too long, ordinary South Africans were disadvantaged by criminals who exploited weaknesses in the previous booking system to hoard appointment slots and sell them for profit. The migration of our booking system to MyHomeAffairsOnline directly addresses this abuse by linking bookings to verified user profiles, strengthening the integrity of the system and protecting citizens’ access to services,” he added.
The new booking and appointment process comes at a critical time, as many South Africans continue to experience challenges when applying for identity documents due to long queues and system delays at some Home Affairs offices.
The changes are intended to improve access to services and ensure that appointment slots are allocated fairly to users who require them.
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