MEDIA STATEMENT
Johannesburg, Tuesday, 25th March 2025 - Public Interest SA welcomes the announcement by Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Leon Schreiber, on the department’s significant upgrade to its digital service systems. This milestone represents a major step forward in leveraging e-government solutions to enhance service delivery, strengthen the national identification system, and combat fraud and corruption that undermines South Africa’s economy and sovereignty.
The Department of Home Affairs’ upgraded digital verification system will enable both government departments and the private sector to efficiently verify the identities of individuals seeking essential services such as social grants, banking, and other critical public and private sector offerings. This is achieved through the use of biometrics, including fingerprint and facial recognition technology.
For years, inefficiencies in the verification system have resulted in a failure rate as high as 50%, causing major disruptions for citizens in need of swift access to financial and social services. Moreover, response times of up to 24 hours, compounded by error-prone results that necessitated manual verification, further delayed access to essential services. These inefficiencies placed undue hardship on individuals and slowed economic participation, especially among vulnerable groups.
However, with the recent technological advancements spearheaded by #TeamHomeAffairs, these challenges will, hopefully, soon be a thing of the past. The upgraded system now delivers responses within milliseconds, with an error rate of below 1%. This dramatic improvement would significantly enhance efficiency, ensuring that individuals receive seamless service delivery and that businesses can confidently verify identities with minimal friction.
Public Interest SA has long advocated for the modernisation of digital governance and recognises this initiative as a crucial alignment with the objectives of its e-Government Barometer project. A reliable national identification system is a cornerstone of digital transformation, fostering greater transparency, security, and efficiency in both public and private sector transactions. Furthermore, reducing fraudulent activity linked to identity verification will enhance economic stability and improve trust in government systems.
The direct benefits of this upgrade will also be felt by key institutions such as the Border Management Authority, Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) and the South African Revenue Service (SARS), all whom are frequent targets of fraudulent activities. With more robust identity verification processes, CIPC will be better equipped to prevent fraudulent company registrations, beneficial ownership, and unauthorised directorship changes, safeguarding the integrity of corporate governance in South Africa. Similarly, SARS will benefit from enhanced security in taxpayer identity verification, reducing tax fraud, identity theft, and illicit financial activities that drain the national economy. These improvements will contribute to a more secure and transparent business environment, fostering investor confidence and compliance with regulatory requirements.
While this upgrade is a significant step forward, we trust that the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) will meet the required system resilience, processing capabilities, and uptime upon which the national identification system depends. Ensuring the reliability and stability of this infrastructure will be critical in maintaining the integrity of digital verification processes and sustaining the gains made in reducing fraud and improving service delivery.
"We commend the Department of Home Affairs for prioritising this digital transformation and reaffirm our commitment to supporting initiatives that drive social and financial inclusion for all South Africans. This development underscores the power of technology in ensuring equitable access to services, reinforcing the broader goals of good governance, accountability, and economic empowerment," said Tebogo Khaas, chairperson of Public Interest SA.
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