When Cambridge resident Siyanda Zide arrived at midnight, a number of people were already camping outside the offices.
“I have been coming to home affairs for three months hoping I will get my ID,” he said.
“It is not easy looking for a job without an ID.
“We are risking our lives and wasting money, which is already scarce, just to stand outside the building and be sunburned,” he said.
Panana Vongo, 19, from Khayelitsha in Reeston, slept on Fleet Street overnight.
“I was the 13th person [in the queue] this morning but then we were told the system is down."
Okuhle Mvubu from Cove Rock confirmed to the Dispatch that vagrants offered to occupy a place in the queue for applicants in exchange for R100.
Newborn babies were being carried by their mothers in the queue, which snaked around the block.
Eastern Cape home affairs manager Gcinile Mabulu said: “The province has home affairs offices in every town, but we tend to receive a large number of people at the East London building.
“We get people who come from as far as Butterworth and Engcobo.”
Also, he said, home affairs personnel were contracting the virus, which led to staff shortages.
Queues start to build at midnight until they snake around the block — but there's every chance you still may not get service
No end in sight for chaos at EL home affairs office
The chaos at the East London home affairs office continues, and people desperate for documents continue to queue all night despite the danger of Covid-19.
Most days the queue starts to build from midnight, with more and more people setting up camp on the pavement.
There is no guarantee they will be attended to in the morning, such is the demand for service.
On Tuesday, police were called to calm the crowd, which was trying to force its way in.
This is not the first time this has happened.
The situation has also given rise to opportunists.
Vagrants offer to occupy and keep someone’s space for R100, according to several people Sowetan's sister publication Dispatch spoke to on Thursday.
When Cambridge resident Siyanda Zide arrived at midnight, a number of people were already camping outside the offices.
“I have been coming to home affairs for three months hoping I will get my ID,” he said.
“It is not easy looking for a job without an ID.
“We are risking our lives and wasting money, which is already scarce, just to stand outside the building and be sunburned,” he said.
Panana Vongo, 19, from Khayelitsha in Reeston, slept on Fleet Street overnight.
“I was the 13th person [in the queue] this morning but then we were told the system is down."
Okuhle Mvubu from Cove Rock confirmed to the Dispatch that vagrants offered to occupy a place in the queue for applicants in exchange for R100.
Newborn babies were being carried by their mothers in the queue, which snaked around the block.
Eastern Cape home affairs manager Gcinile Mabulu said: “The province has home affairs offices in every town, but we tend to receive a large number of people at the East London building.
“We get people who come from as far as Butterworth and Engcobo.”
Also, he said, home affairs personnel were contracting the virus, which led to staff shortages.