South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs is accelerating its digital transformation programme aimed at improving service delivery, strengthening national security and driving economic growth.
This is according to the Minister of Home Affairs Leon Schreiber, who tabled the department’s 2026 Budget Vote in the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday.
He said the Home Affairs ecosystem — including the Department of Home Affairs, the Border Management Authority (BMA) and Government Printing Works — had spent the past two years implementing reforms under a programme called “Home Affairs @ home”.
The reforms seek to move services away from a system dependent on physical offices and paper-based processes toward digital and biometric platforms.
The Minister said the department had already expanded Smart ID replacement services to 167 bank branches nationwide within eight weeks of launching a new digital partnership model with banks.
The previous manual system had expanded to only 30 branches over a decade.
More than 127 000 South Africans have already used the new digital Smart ID replacement service, with applications now taking as little as five minutes at participating branches.
The Minister said the department had increased its target to make Smart ID replacement services available at 750 bank branches by the end of 2026, with a focus on rural and underserved communities.
The upgraded system eliminates paperwork, prior bookings and long queues by relying on biometric verification technology.
The department also plans to expand the digital platform to include first-time ID applications, passport applications and doorstep delivery of documents.
An upgraded online booking system has also been introduced after the previous platform was allegedly exploited by individuals who blocked and sold appointment slots to citizens.
Schreiber said the new booking system had been secured against such abuses and was expected to stabilise fully within weeks.
Home Affairs is also developing a Digital Identity system, which the Minister described as “foundational national infrastructure” for the digital economy.
Draft regulations under the Identification Act have already been published for public comment, with submissions closing on 6 June.
The proposed Digital ID system will allow citizens to securely access Home Affairs services and documents on smartphones while enabling remote authentication.
The Minister also linked the department’s digital transformation drive to efforts to strengthen national security.
He said the expanded Smart ID rollout would help phase out the Green ID book, which he described as one of the most defrauded documents on the continent and a major source of identity theft and illegal immigration.
Last year, the department issued a record four million Smart IDs.
The department’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system, launched in October last year for tourists from China, India, Indonesia and Mexico, was also highlighted as a major security initiative.
The ETA system records biometric data for foreigners entering South Africa and uses machine learning and facial recognition technology to verify travel documents and identities.
According to the Minister, the system has already denied visas to more than 4 500 applicants through document verification and facial recognition checks.
The ETA will be expanded to cover more countries and additional visa categories in the coming weeks.
The Minister said the BMA had announced selected bidders for a R12.5 billion public-private partnership project to rebuild South Africa’s six busiest land ports of entry, which account for 80% of border traffic.
READ | BMA announces successful bidders for major border overhaul
The new infrastructure will incorporate digital border systems and implement the One-Stop Border Post concept recently approved by Parliament.
The Minister's speech also positioned Home Affairs as an economic enabler, particularly through tourism and international investment. The ETA system now allows qualifying tourists to obtain visas digitally within 24 hours and apply online for visa extensions.
The Minister said inefficient visa processes had previously cost the tourism sector billions of rand and that the new system would help unlock new tourism markets and create jobs. - SAnews.gov.za
