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Biometric data such as fingerprints and facial recognition is central to Home Affairs' push toward digital identity verification.
Department of Home Affairs Picture: Carlos Muchave/ The Citizen
The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) is ready to implement its improved digital identity verification system.
Minister Leon Schreiber promised early in his leadership of the portfolio that a modernisation and streamlining of processes could be expected.
Digital identity verification has been cited by the DHA and Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa as being the cornerstone of government’s pursuit of efficiency.
The upgraded digital verification system will be available for DHAs’ private clients and government departments ranging from National Treasury to the South African Social Security Agenc (Sassa).
Private sector financial service providers who make use of the national population register use DHA to cross-check their documents, this includes banks and insurance companies.
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The public and private entities will now have a streamlined biometric system at their disposal, linking fingerprint and facial recognition profiles to a vast government and financial network.
Private entities pay fees to the DHA in order to use the system, with those fees set to increase from 1 April.
“This investment in our population register is not only overdue, but also important for delivering on the vision for digital ID,” stated Schreiber.
The upgrade was deemed necessary as the DHA state almost half of requests submitted could not be processed and when requests were processed, responses took 24 hours and often required additional manual verification.
Testing on the new system showed a “dramatically faster performance” as well as having the vast majority of system errors.
The move is aimed at improving service delivery and reducing waiting times for those opening bank accounts and accessing social grants.
During his State of the Nation (Sona) speech in February, President Cyril Ramaphosa said government wished to enhance their fundamental functions.
“At the heart of this transformation will be the implementation of a digital identity system,” said Ramaphosa
“These measures will transform the relationship between citizens and government, and create one government that is accessible to every person at a touch,” he explained.
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