Overhaul of agency that prints green ID books after major server crash

Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber says that the Government Printing Works has made significant progress in improving its systems after suffering severe data loss.

The Government Printing Works (GPW) website went offline on the weekend of 15–16 January 2022 due to an Enterprise Virtual Array hardware failure. This was after it had already suffered another incident in February 2021.

Aside from impacting the department’s website, the hardware failure also resulted in the loss of critical data.

GPW is an agency reporting to the Department of Home Affairs that specialises in security printing of important national documents such as passports, visas, birth certificates, green ID books, and smart ID cards.

It also prints exams and performs general government printing, such as stationery, and publications, such as government gazettes.

When the website went offline in 2022, it was a huge concern for the press, engaged citizens, and civil society, as the Government Gazette is the authoritative source of information on new laws and policies being developed in South Africa.

Speaking to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, Schreiber said the data loss was a challenging time that had widespread repercussions across the organisation.

He said it underscored the central role of technology and cybersecurity in modern operations and that failure to maintain and update IT and information security systems has far-reaching and cascading effects.

Although the data loss incident was a setback, it also presented an opportunity for the GPW to reassess and improve its systems and processes.

Following an earlier system failure in February 2021, a Ministerial Review Panel was appointed to investigate the incidents and associated challenges in the Government Printing Works. It presented its report in July 2022.

The panel identified several issues, including historical organisational instability, which had a negative effect on the agency’s culture.

It noted a lack of handover between senior managers who left the organisation, which negatively impacted business continuity.

Some organisational gaps and vacancies also created a capacity problem within the GPW.

Government Printing Works CEO Alinah Fosi reported to the committee that they had made significant progress in implementing the review panel’s recommendations.

She said the Review Panel made 166 recommendations, of which 144 (87%) had been completed, and the remainder were in progress.

Fosi said they had made efforts to modernise GPW’s operations, including disposing of outdated machinery and moving to new facilities.

Despite this achievement, Fosi acknowledged that there were ongoing challenges, particularly in staffing and dependencies on external agencies such as the National Treasury.

She reported that they have shortlisted external IT experts to be appointed to advise her on ICT matters.

However, she noted that only a limited number of applications that met the minimum requirements were received, and they have submitted a request for headhunting.

Schreiber expressed pride in the GPW’s recent progress, highlighting its improved audit outcome in the latest financial year and reaffirming its commitment to achieve a clean audit.

He emphasised the importance of digital transformation within the sector, noting that the GPW plays a critical role in his vision of “Home Affairs @Home”.

The minister explained that although the Department of Home Affairs manages document applications, its efforts rely on GPW’s capability to process and deliver them.

He said there was an opportunity for GPW to extend its reach across the continent and explore digital documents as a new avenue, positioning itself as a global leader in this field.