Home Affairs computer systems are especially hard to navigate and use. Illustration: Lisa Nelson
In the early 2000s websites ending gov.za were simple, well-designed and smooth to navigate. You could easily find who held what position and their contact information. There was reasonable consistency across the government websites.
Today, the state’s websites are a mess. Just a few examples:
Last month GroundUp reported that there are two different websites for applying for your unemployment insurance payout. One of the sites simply sends your application into the void, without you being any the wiser.
If you’ve recently tried to apply online for an appointment at a Home Affairs office to get an ID or passport, you’ll probably know that the system…
Read More: Do you need something from a government website? Good luck!.
Water shortages: Insufficient access to clean and safe drinking water.

Little Cobra
What\’s the difference between an ANC MP and a flying pig?
The letter F.
Old Man Winter
So I\’m real good friends with this guy named Juan Ted. Now, Juan is a pretty incredible guy. He can steal ANYTHING he wants to. Literally anything. It could be the shirt off your back, the wallet in your pocket, or I\’m even sure he\’d find a way to steal your house (And your spouse too). So anyway, one day Juan and I are sitting around watching TV, and they announced that the hope diamond will not be on display anymore and is now getting moved to an undisclosed location. So as we hear this, Juan says \”I\’m gonna steal it\”. Now I know how good Juan is at this kind of stuff, so I just tell him good luck and he goes on his way. Eventually he narrows his search down to a small cave in South Africa. When Juan gets there, he doesn\’t see any guards or anything outside the cave, so he just walks in assuming he was wrong about where the diamond was. He wanders around for a while until he sees a long lit hallway with the hope diamond at the end of it. Confident in his abilities, he strolls over to the diamond and picks it up before realizing its a trap! Suddenly, red lights flashed, armed men came running out, sirens went off. You could hear one of the men say under his breath \”We finally caught Juan Ted.\” But Juan, being the best thief in the world, said \”Not quite. On the count of three, I will disappear.\” As the men looked around confused, Juan began to count. \”Uno. Dos.\” And he disappeared without a tres.