Home Affairs central to South Africa digital government strategy

A fully digital Home Affairs department will be the central point in the implementation of an effective digital government strategy in South Africa. This is the view of the country’s Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber as he recently outlined the role of his department in the digital transformation vision of the country during a presentation in parliament.

According to the government information service, Schreiber was speaking to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on the department’s digital transformation drive.

The minister noted that all access to public and private sector services is anchored on the citizen database which is managed by the Department of Home Affairs.

“We all know that Home Affairs is central to managing civic services and immigration. Of particular importance is the department’s mandate as the custodian of status for both citizens and non-citizens through the National Population Register (NPR),” Schreiber told the NCOP.

“It is this status in the NPR database, secured through every person’s unique biometrics, that is expressed through enabling documents such as IDs, passports and various certificates,” he added.

Speaking further, the minister highlighted the importance of having the biometric records of everyone not only for enhanced security, but for the efficient delivery of important services.

“Digital transformation that eradicates the use of paper, that records the biometrics of every person who wishes to enter this country, and that eliminates human discretion, holds the key to securing our borders and enforcing accountability for those who violate our immigration laws,” Schreiber is quoted as saying.

“Digital transformation that automates and biometrically secures access to IDs and passports holds the key to eliminating identity theft and erasing the value of fraudulent documents. Digital transformation that empowers every citizen, as well as legal residents and tourists, with secure digital products that cannot be faked or stolen holds the key to modernising every government service in South Africa,” he added.

As South Africa continuous its digital transformation journey, the minister said Home Affairs is looking forward to a future in which several important government services can be accessed securely and conveniently through a single digital government portal.

Such a portal, he said, will facilitate access to services such as ID cards, passports, drivers’ license’s, land titles, South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) grants, South African Revenue Service and National Student Financial Aid Scheme services, among others.

Facial recognition for SASSA grant beneficiaries

Talking about the SASSA grants, the Home Affairs minister said efforts are being made to tighten up the verification process so that no one will be able to access grants unduly using fake IDs.

Part of these efforts is the planned introduction of ID verification using face biometrics, according to TV Channel Newsroom Afrika.

In an interview to the outlet, a spokesperson of SASSA, Paseka Letsatsi, said a recent change which allowed grant beneficiaries to update their personal information such as their bank details and their phone number, using a portal, also opened up the window for fraudsters.

He said the move to introduce facial recognition follows a study by two Stellenbosch University students which revealed that many applications for SASSA grants were being made with fraudulent IDs, some of which were obtained through data breaches and leaks.

“We think that implementing this type of verification is important to verify whether someone who would like to change their details is the rightful person. We must cooperate with society, and people must understand that we are doing this to save the public purse,” the SASSA spokesperson said.

In addition to concerns about ID fraud, there have been calls for the government to address identity verification problems faced by grant beneficiaries.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital government  |  digital identity  |  facial recognition  |  national ID  |  social security  |  South Africa