eTNW understands that the Department of Home Affairs’ biometric systems were down from Thursday last week until this morning.
Industry sources told eTNW that this had resulted in a backlog in the processing of passports that had been applied for at a Home Affairs branch. “The on-site application and payment systems have also been non-functional periodically over the last few months. We had been advising clients to apply and pay online before going in to the Home Affairs branch to submit biometrics. However, with the biometric system also experiencing technical challenges the whole process came to a halt.”
Agents surveyed told eTNW that they avoided passport processing delays by encouraging clients to apply through their bank.
