Schreiber hopes to restore dignity of citizens by overhauling Home Affairs Dept

CAPE TOWN - New Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber hopes to reduce long queues and restore the dignity of citizens who rely on the department from birth to death.

He’s taken over what some would say is a poisoned chalice department from Aaron Motsoaledi as one of six Cabinet posts occupied by the Democratic Alliance (DA) as part of the Government of National Unity (GNU).

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Schreiber, who was sworn in as minister in Cape Town on Wednesday, said offline systems could no longer be tolerated.

The minister has in the past been fiercely critical of corruption and cadre deployment within government.

He finds himself in the position of rooting out the rot in one of the State’s most corrupt departments.

However, he said it would be small steps using technology to improve business systems and speed up processes.

“There’s no magic wand and the problems are very deep, and they are systemic, so I don’t think anyone should expect these problems will be solved overnight.”

Schreiber has already met with his officials and said he’s made his zero-tolerance approach to corruption clear.

“There are officials who try very hard under extremely difficult circumstances. I can’t imagine a more difficult job than sitting at one of those desks and receiving customers who have been in the queue since four in the morning, six hours later, and having to tell them the system is offline. That’s a terrible thing.”

Schreiber said he’s also very committed to improving the working conditions of Home Affairs staff.