The City has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Home Affairs to ensure eThekwini residents have access to home affair services at Sizakala Centres.

THE implementation of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between eThekwini Municipality and the Department of Home Affairs is crucial to ensure residents gain access to home affairs services. The three-year MOU will allow eThekwini residents to apply for their identity documents, smart cards and other Home Affairs services at Municipal Sizakala Centres. 

The MOU has been renewed in an effort to mitigate congestion at home affairs centres. It also seeks to provide improved
home affairs services to eThekwini residents. According to the Deputy City Manager for the Governance and International Relations Cluster Sipho Cele, multilateral cooperation with other spheres of government gave birth to the signing the MOU. “We are a government that directly respond 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 regarding the issuing of identity documents, smart cards, and processing documents for undocumented immigrants within the jurisdiction of the
Municipality,” said Cele. He said the service will only be available at the Municipality’s Sizakala Centres in the Municipal
area. “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 had a MOU with the department which expired earlier this year.