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Service delivery in the public sector must be exactly that - the delivery of services. It is indeed a sad day when individual citizens get alienated from the very government they voted into power. A visit to the Department of Home Affairs in particular, leaves even the most confident, assertive and educated citizen feeling like somewhat of a nuisance, to say the least. Unfriendly faces, arrogance and a sense of doing the public a favour by attending to their requests, is what you have come to expect from your visit.
The Democratic Alliance expresses its shock and outrage at the suicide of Douglas Skhunbuso Mhlongo who killed himself after a Home Affairs official allegedly tore up his papers at the Pine Town Home Affairs office - these papers were crucial for his employment. When an individual is frustrated and desperate to the extent of taking his own life, one has to wonder just what exactly it is going to take to get service delivery on track in South Africa. The issue however is about more than just one individual case that made the papers. There are thousands of other citizens who on a daily basis face the same disgraceful treatment from public servants across all departments. This leaves one to conclude that the principles of "batho pele" exist on paper only.

The DA welcomes Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma's public commitment to find and deal with the official who caused this unnecessary and untimely death due to his/her uncaring, bureaucratic behaviour and we expect disciplinary action to be taken swiftly. The DA will put questions to the Minister in this regard.