Another Dept of Home Affairs foul up

Concerning RSA passport and ID renewal for some of my family currently in the UK I needed to speak telephonically to someone at Home Affairs in Caledon concerning the collection from there of these now ready documents by my daughter who lives the closest in Herm****. The listed phone number on line for Caledon 082 470 4347 rings once, then immediately goes to engaged. So I try the next nearest branch at Bredasdorp tel no: 028 050 0319. That number doesn't even ring - nothing, dead. But it's listed on line by Home Affairs. Then I try Maynard Mall branch in Wynberg, Cape Town tel no: 021 763 6400. This just rings for ever. Again a listed number, but no one there will apparently pick up a ringing phone. Next, in massive frustration, I try phoning DHA at their Pretoria HEAD OFFICE tel no: 012 406 2500. It rings for a few seconds then goes to engaged. To cap it all the listed number for the Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber 012 432 6605 which I tried many times is permanently engaged! And this is supposed to be a new, slicker, more user friendly government department since Schreiber took over the reins. Really? The problem is that like so many disinterested, sloppily run and poorly managed organizations they all have forgotten that a phone call is or should be, if responded to responsibly, an INSTANT/IMMEDIATE means for person to person communication. Yes, faster than email, sms messaging AND LIGHT YEARS AHEAD OF SITTING IN A QUEUE at a DHA office. But manning phone lines and having enough lines or putting more in to keep pace with demand is like asking these outfits to do what for them is seemingly so difficult, namely to provide the tax payers of this country who fund these operations a decent level of public service. Or is simply a case of "we couldn't care less about your being unable to communicate with us. Go away"? Words fail me. This sort of rotten service is a perfect example of why many here in RSA are so fed up with this country and why so many who can afford to do so want to get out. The tragedy is that the poor people here cannot afford to jump ship to somewhere where they will get looked after way better than here. Come on DHA - get your skates on and sort out this mess!