An approximation, based on available figures, shows that South Africans will be contributing an estimated R5.2 billion to government's smart ID card rollout.
According to Stats SA's latest figures, the South African population stands at an estimated 52.98 million, of which 29.2% are 15 years old and younger. This puts the ID-carrying population at around 37.5 million, each of whom will have to pay R140 to apply for a new smart ID card.
The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) earlier this week announced that smart ID cards would be issued free to 16-year-olds who are first-time applicants, while all other applicants will be expected to pay R140. According to communication deputy DG Vusi Mkhize, this amount, which is the same as the cost of the old green ID book, was determined by "all the cost drivers involved".
The DHA was unable to reveal the exact budget allocated to the smart ID card rollout, at this stage.
In May, home affairs minister Naledi Pandor said in her budget vote that the smart ID card will form part of an overall IT modernisation programme, for which more than R348 million had been allocated in this financial year, up from the R214 million for last year.
A few weeks later, the DHA awarded a R40 million contract to Altech Card Solutions to provide the Government Printing Works with card personalisation equipment, while a contract estimated to be worth R199 million was awarded to Gemalto Southern Africa to supply pre-printed polycarbonate cards, containing a contactless microchip.
DA shadow minister of home affairs Manny de Freitas says government should be issuing the first smart ID cards for free to all South Africans, seeing as this is an entirely new system and having an ID document is mandatory.
He, however, notes that budget constraints are very much a reality. "There is no way the ministry will be able to afford to issue the [smart ID] card to millions of people. That's the bottom line; they won't have the budget for it," says De Freitas.
De Freitas says there is a system in place where citizens can apply to get a free ID, provided they can prove they cannot afford it. "I have never experienced problems with that system, and this should still be in place with the new [smart] ID," he says.
The smart ID card was officially launched last week with the issuing of former president Nelson Mandela's card. Rollout to the general public will start with first-time identity document applicants and senior citizens. Thereafter, South Africans will be invited to DHA offices in stages, according to their dates of birth.
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