The Department of Home Affairs has announced the extension of operating hours at its offices from January 6 – 17, 2025.
In a post on social media platform X, the department called on the nation to take advantage of the extended operating hours. These only apply from Mondays to Fridays.
“Come and apply or collect your enabling documents. Offices close at 18:00 during this period,” said the department on Friday.
December operating hours
In December, the department announced the extension of operating hours from December 10 – 20, 2024.
In a statement at the time, the department confirmed the move to extend operating hours from closing at 4pm to 6pm. It said this was to ease pressure on its clients by also introducing dedicated counters. These were for collections in large offices that process Smart ID Cards and passports, where space allows.
Power restored at OR Tambo Airport
Meanwhile, power has been restored to OR Tambo International Airport (ORTIA) following an outage on Thursday night.
The Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) confirmed this in a post on social media platform X on Friday.
“[The] Airport’s electricity supply from the municipality has been restored. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We appreciate your cooperation,” it said.
On Thursday night, ACSA reassured passengers that the airport was fully operational. It was operating on back-up power following a temporary power disruption. This disruption was affecting the Ekurhuleni Metro region in Gauteng.
Trip in municipal grid
“The power failure, which occurred at 19:20, was caused by a trip in the municipal grid. The local municipality is currently investigating the cause of the disruption. ACSA is not responsible for identifying the source of the issue, as the power failure lies outside of our control.
“We would like to emphasise that all critical airport services continue to operate without disruption. These include terminals, airfield operations, and cargo handling. The airport’s backup generators kicked in… ensuring there was no impact on airport operations,” it said on Thursday.
ACSA, which is an entity of the Department of Transport, said that cargo operations were also running smoothly.
– SAnews.gov.za
