The news:
- South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber has announced the government’s plan to digitise the department, eliminating the need for in-person visits.
- The government expects this online system to reduce, if not eliminate, in-person visits by transforming the current paper-based processes into an automated platform, allowing South Africans to access services like ID applications, passport renewals, and visas remotely.
- The system will use advanced facial and fingerprint recognition technology, similar to smartphone features like Face ID, to instantly verify applicants.
Outlining how the system will work, Schreiber explained that South Africans can submit online applications for an ID, passport, certificate, or visa through a secure online portal.
In turn, the platform will verify the completeness of the documents, check for fraud, conduct facial recognition, cross-reference databases, process cashless transactions, and communicate the outcome to the applicant, all within seconds.
Schreiber emphasised that this digital shift would not only speed up the process but also cut down on the need for in-person visits.
The department’s goal is to eliminate the frustrations of long wait times, lost paperwork, and corruption, which have plagued the department for years.
Additionally, Schreiber emphasised that the new system will free up Home Affairs employees to focus on assisting vulnerable populations who need more direct support. This group includes individuals in rural communities, people without access to smart devices, and those with complex or urgent cases that cannot be handled online.
The Minister, however, acknowledged the frequent system outages that the department has faced over the years as a major issue.
Despite a R400 million network revamp in 2022 by the State Information Technology Agency (SITA), the system has continued to fail, most recently in January 2024.
Schreiber highlighted that fixing this problem is critical to achieving the digital vision for Home Affairs and vowed to address the department’s poor internet infrastructure, which has been a source of repeated service disruptions.
Notably, Schreiber's plans extend beyond the Southern African nation's borders as the new digital platform aims to serve South Africans worldwide, with the possibility of having IDs and passports delivered directly to their doors, mirroring how banks deliver credit and debit cards.
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If successful, the digital transformation could finally bring much-needed improvements to South Africa’s Home Affairs system.
