The eThekwini Municipality has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Department of Home Affairs to ensure that eThekwini residents have access to the department’s services at the Sizakala customer centres within the municipality.

The three-year MOU will allow eThekwini residents to apply for their identity documents, smart ID cards and other Home Affairs services at the Sizakala centres, which assist residents with municipal queries.

Deputy City Manager for the Governance and International Relations Cluster, Sipho Cele, said the MOU has been renewed to mitigate congestion at Home Affairs centres and to improve Home Affairs services.

Cele said cooperation with other spheres of government has resulted to the signing of the MOU.

“We are a government that directly responds to the urgent needs of residents, and we saw it fit to endorse and renew the MOU. The MOU is imperative because it maintains working relations and will improve service delivery in the issuing of identity documents, smart cards, and processing documents for undocumented immigrants within the jurisdiction of the municipality,” Cele said.

He said the service will only be available at the municipality’s Sizakala centres.

“The final touches regarding the logistical arrangements are being done and the community will be informed once everything is in order,” Cele said.

The city previously signed a MOU with Home Affairs, which expired earlier this year.

Source: South African Government News Agency