Home Affairs warns people who refuse to replace green ID books

Many South African citizens are avoiding applying for their smart IDs, but the Department of Home Affairs has warned that not upgrading places people at greater risk of having their identities stolen.

Some have said that long queues at home affairs branches are putting them off, while others believe they should get their first smart ID card free since the government decided to change the documents, not them.

However, Home Affairs officials have said South Africans should put their security first and heed the call to switch to the newer document.

Smile ID’s 2024 Digital Identity Fraud report found that South Africa’s green ID book was the most targeted in Africa for fraudulently gaining access to various services.

The firm said national IDs were regularly targeted because they were the most common form of government identification and mandatory for most adults.

In addition to providing access to welfare benefits, Home Affairs recently reported that they had picked up forged documents used to apply for bank loans.

Director-general Tommy Makhode recently told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs that they were on a quest to eradicate the green bar-coded ID book.

Makhode said they wanted to ensure every South African has a smart ID card, which is a more secure document.

He was answering the committee’s questions following a presentation about the department’s ongoing efforts to combat fraud and address the problem of forged ID books and passports.

Makhode highlighted their efforts to digitally transform the department as a crucial step in tackling the issue.

“We cannot over-emphasise the issue of digitisation, which means we have to get rid of the paper records,” said Makhode.

He said over 30 million records have been digitised. Former home affairs minister Aaron Motsoaledi began the digitisation project, simultaneously using it as a youth employment programme.

Makhode said that once Home Affairs had migrated away from paper records, they must eliminate the green bar-coded ID.

“As soon as we do that, we can move to the digital realm,” he said.

However, before the Minister of Home Affairs can declare the old identity book invalid, the department must ensure that a critical mass of people have adopted the smart ID card — hence its appeal for people to apply.

It must also open smart ID applications to permanent residents and naturalised citizens. Currently, naturalised citizens may only apply by requesting an invitation from the Director-General of the Department of Home Affairs.

Although the department has told Parliament that it has made good progress in its smart ID rollout, the truth is that South Africa’s migration away from the old green ID book is years behind schedule.

When former home affairs minister Naledi Pandor first launched South Africa’s smart ID card project in 2013, the plan was to phase out the ID book and declare it invalid by 2021.

In addition to driving uptake of the smart ID card, current home affairs minister Leon Schreiber has announced his plan for “Home Affairs @ Home”.

Schreiber revealed his plans to fully digitise Home Affairs services in August 2024, saying that the only way to tackle fraud was to remove the opportunity for human intervention in the system.

“It is only possible for someone to steal an ID number or engage in fraudulent activity like swopping out photos because the system has gaps that allow for human intervention,” Schreiber said.

“Until such time as Home Affairs has been transformed into a digital-first department, these abuses will keep happening.”

Besides addressing fraud, Schreiber said such a system would also improve service delivery.

He said the aim is to create a new system where South Africans can submit ID and other applications from the comfort of their own home through a digital platform.

These documents are then delivered to their doorstep, anywhere in the world, similar to the types of services banks offer for credit and debit cards.

He said their future end-to-end digital platform will handle all applications, adjudications, and communications between South Africans and the department.

After an online application for an ID, passport, certificate, or visa is submitted, a machine-learning-based risk engine will verify the completeness of the application.

The system will authenticate users, check for fraudulent documents, conduct facial recognition checks, cross-reference databases, process cashless transactions, and communicate the outcome to the applicant — all within seconds.

“No more standing in queues, no more waiting months or years for an outcome, no more being kept in the dark about the status of an application,” Schreiber said.

“And no more space for officials or syndicates to solicit bribes for a transaction to be processed.”

This shift would also enhance the work environment for department staff, allowing them to focus on more exciting and productive tasks.

“This would include devoting our staff to serving those who truly need it most,” said Schreiber.

“Including the poorest members of our society, people in rural areas, the 10% of South Africans who don’t yet use smart devices, and those exceptional or complicated cases that require more resources to resolve.”