The clock is ticking

This time the ministry says the delay is due to a clearing agency holding on to a batch of passports in South Africa.
Granted, all those explanations could have been correct at the particular times. True, the delay could be a combination of both. The shortage of chips could have created a backlog that was then worsened by the delay at the clearing agency.

Yet the trouble is that the government doesn’t fully explain why there is a delay at the clearing agency or whether the chips are now readily available.
Because the government appears to be economical with the details, the public is left to speculate out of frustration.
To calm and assure the public the government has to forthrightly answer the following questions: Why is the agent holding on to the passports?

Could it be because the agent is holding the passports over a current or previous debt? How many passports does the agent have now?
What is the government doing to expedite the delivery of the passports from Johannesburg?
And finally, when does it expect to solve this crisis once and for all?

As long as those questions remain unanswered, the ministry and the government will continue to be pilloried and accused of making false promises.
Whatever the problem, the government should deal with it. No amount of explanation or excuses will help the thousands of desperate Basotho stuck because they don’t have passports.

The backlog of passports was 42 000 at the last count but continues to rise because the government keeps accepting new applications.
We need not remind the government that the livelihoods and education of thousands of Basotho depend on passports. We believe it’s a fundamental right.
What makes the explanation for the crisis appear hollow is the fact passports are not the only basic good the government has consistently and dismally failed to deliver.
There are no number plates and drivers’ licences. The supply of basic medicines to public hospitals and clinics has been patchy for years. Police and chiefs don’t have stationery.

Livestock owners are not getting ownership documents. The shortage of basic livestock medication is perennial. Schools don’t get textbooks on time and sometimes students go for a whole year without them. Given this reality, it is not surprising that some, including this newspaper, are not fully convinced by the government’s explanation for the delay in passports.

It doesn’t appear that this is due to a hiccup. Rather, it could be systemic. There are too many delays to too many government services and goods.
Most of those delays were inherited from the past administration but that will not mollify angry Basotho.

It was precisely because it promised to solve these persistent problems that the government was elected into power. The people have a legitimate expectation by their government will deliver on their promises. Anything short of a complete delivery will be tantamount to betrayal.

The public’s frustration is building up and it might be only a matter of time before the people completely lose confidence in the government.
It would be tragic were the government to lose the massive goodwill it still enjoys merely because it would failed to resolve a key issue such as that of passports.
The clock is ticking.