The Department of Home Affairs has undertaken a comprehensive upgrade of its digital verification system.
To curb the lag times that often hamper its digital verification system, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) is rolling out a “comprehensive” system upgrade.
The department said yesterday that testing already shows it is now capable of faster performance, with an error rate of well below 1%.
The system had been plagued by inefficiencies, with users reporting a failure rate of up to 50% on verification ‘hits’ against the national population register.
It also routinely took up to 24 hours for the system to respond, and when responses did arrive, they were often littered with errors that required a cumbersome process of manual verification, according to the DHA.
“The department is ready to roll out access to the upgraded verification service to all our valued clients across the public and private sectors.”
Home affairs minister Dr Leon Schreiber comments: “The rollout of a reliable, efficient and secure verification service supports the public and private sectors to improve service delivery. This marks the most significant upgrade to the home affairs verification service since it was launched. It will dramatically reduce waiting times whenever a client needs to verify their identity with the department to obtain a social grant, or open a bank account.
“The upgrade is also of immense importance to supporting private sector economic growth. When this vital home affairs system is down, slow, or littered with errors, it negatively impacts upon the ability of banks, insurance companies and other financial service providers to verify clients and conduct business.”
The home affairs department is the custodian of identity, civil status and migration of citizens.
Its digital verification system, it says, enables government departments, ranging from National Treasury, to the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), as well as businesses in the financial sector, to verify the identities of clients using biometric features like fingerprints and facial recognition against the national population register.
For example, banks use it to verify the authenticity of a person’s ID with the register at home affairs.
The upgrade therefore improves the link between a service provider, such as a bank or SASSA and the DHA’s national population register, explains ministry spokesperson Siya Qoza.
As part of ensuring the ongoing maintenance of the system and after obtaining concurrence from the minister of finance, Schreiber gazetted a new set of fees associated with the use of this verification service.
“In order to better fund the maintenance of the national population register that sits at the heart of our national security and economy, fees for the use of the home affairs digital verification service by private sector companies will increase for the first time in over a decade, effective 1 April.
“However, public sector users of the service, including numerous government departments and agencies, will be unaffected by the increase as government users remain exempted from fees.”
Schreiber adds: “This investment in our population register is not only overdue, but also important for delivering on the vision for digital ID, as outlined by president Cyril Ramaphosa during the State of the Nation Address, as a secure and efficient population register forms the cornerstone of digital ID.”
The DHA’s reform to its verification system has been welcomed by non-profit organisation Public Interest SA. It says the move is a major step forward in leveraging e-government solutions to enhance service delivery, strengthen the national identification system and combat fraud.
“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 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 of which 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.”
Public Interest SA stresses that the State IT Agency will also have to play its part in this endeavour, noting it will need to 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.”
