HOME AFFAIRS FEES UNCHANGED FOR NOW

MBABANE - There has been an unofficial extension in the maintenance of service fees offered by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Some locals found themselves paying the old civil registration and immigration service fees despite that the Ministry of Home Affairs had announced an increase to be effective as of Monday, March 1, 2021. The delay in the increasing of the service fees has been attributed to technical glitches within the government system. It was gathered that the government system had not been updated to incorporate the new fees. Worth noting is that the Ministry of Home Affairs initially proposed to increase fees from January 1, 2021, and later deferred it to March 1, 2021. Most of the services, including the registration of civil rites marriage and the late registration of birth certificates and national identification cards, were increased by over 100 per cent, with some being increased up to 500 per cent.

Increased

Raising a heated debate among locals was the increase in registration for civil rites marriage, which was increased from E25 to E150 and the replacement of IDs which was increased from E50 to E300. During a visit to the Ministry of Home Affairs Service Centre in Mbabane yesterday, it was noted that some of the locals who were at the offices were happy, expressing how they had dodged the bullet. “I came here to replace my national identity card and I was expecting to pay E300. I was so happy to only pay E50 at the Revenue Offices,” said one local. Another woman who was at the offices, said she had gone to the offices to replace her ID card as well when she learnt that fees had not been increased. “I know a few people who came here yesterday and paid the old fees while expecting to pay the new ones. I saw this as an opportunity for me to do my documentation as soon as I could before the fees are increased. “The officers here told us that the system would be upgraded anytime this week, but that does not count for me because I will no longer be paying the hefty amount,” said the woman.

Ministry of Home Affairs Principal Secretary (PS) Nhlanhla Nxumalo confirmed that the fees had not been increased, attributing the delay to systems which had not been updated. “Officers from the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology are updating the payment systems countrywide. People should not rely on the fact that fees have not yet been increased because they can be increased anytime,” said Nxumalo. He said emaSwati should be prepared to pay the increased fees anytime.About two months ago, Nxumalo told this publication that they were executing the Finance Act, a law which was passed in Parliament in 2019, by increasing their fees. “The implementation of this is not in our own accord as a government department. We have been compelled by the law to increase the fees. This was what parliamentarians decided in 2019 and we would be breaking the law if we would further stall on implementing the Act,” said the PS.

Compared

He also said the fees in the ministry were still reasonable when compared to other countries. “The ministry also tries to be prompt in service delivery. For example, it takes about a month to take a passport in some countries while it takes a maximum of four days with us,” said Nxumalo. In a quest to compare the new fees to that of the neighbouring country’s Department of Home Affairs fees, it was noted that South Africa had less costly fees, which were effected in 2013. The re-issuing of an Identity Document in South Africa is E140 while it will soon be E300 in the country. Issuing of a Marriage Certificate in South Africa is E75 while it will soon be E150 in the country from March 2021. The re-issuing of identity documents in South Africa is E140 while it will soon be E300 in the country. Issuing of a marriage certificate in South Africa is E75 while it will be E150 in the country.

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