Home Affairs heads online

Johannesburg, 12 Aug 2009

South Africans will soon be able to apply for their passports and identity documents online, says the Department of Home Affairs (DHA).

“Data will be captured live online, from photographs to signatures, to ensure the information printed in the document is correct,” says Home Affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

The online processes, which were piloted in the department's Free State provincial office, will first be available in 19 Home Affairs offices already able to capture data online. The department says the process will then be rolled out to other offices across the country.

The DHA declines to provide any dates for the expansion of its online processes, saying only that it remains committed to providing the public with greater online services. However, it may not be able to implement new processes as fast as it could due to economic constraints, it adds.

The department, which received a total budget of R5 billion for the next three years, will spend R514 million on its key IT projects and to transform its processes.

“Of course, we will eventually be rendering all services online. We would eventually want to move towards becoming a paperless department. This is our ultimate objective,” notes the minister.

The introduction of online processes forms part of the DHA's 10-year turnaround strategy. The department aims to transform its processes, policy and technology. Earlier this year, Dlamini-Zuma said the department had begun setting up systems and processes, to allow it to capture data electronically as part of its transformation process.

While new secure passports were introduced in April, the DHA noted that online applications were key in preventing tampering with the documents.

The new passports use biometric technology to authenticate travellers' identity, while critical information is stored on a tiny RFID computer chip, much like information stored on smart cards.

“This means the applicant must apply in person, fill in the forms, have their photo taken online, have their signature processed online so that we begin to ensure that people do not send others to do their applications or send photos of other people,” said Dlamini-Zuma.