Department of Home Affairs review: Smart ID not received, applied almost 1year ago

Applied on 27 December 2024, Advised to wait for the sms for the collection date. This has not been received to date
Visited the branch (Pavillion, Westville, SA) in February with my son because his was ready for collection as he is a scholar but I was told that mine is Pending
Visited again and was told to wait for the SMS.
Visited last on 07 November 2025 and was told its 'stuck' and to call 0800601190 (which no one ever answers) or email hacc@dha.gov.za.
Emailed hacc@dha.gov.za on 10 November and to date, no acknowledgment or response received.
Today I took a chance and called Mr. Mbongeni Magagula who answered and advised me to send my details to him on Whats APP and SMS to 0606227836 which was done today 08 December 2025. This is very disappointing, I cannot apply for passports due to this delay of my smart ID. It's quite disheartening, I have to keep taking time off work to go into the branch to check on progress. This service is very old fashioned and slow. The site not user friendly either. It's a struggle to apply and follow up and to get updates. 27 December 2025 will be one year since I applied.