In marking 100 days in office for the Government of National Unity (GNU), Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber highlighted that over the next five years all the department’s services must become fully automated, digitised and must be offered online “at the fingertips of clients from the comfort of their own homes”, announcing the ‘Home Affairs @ home’ approach.

Schreiber was announcing a new strategic vision to turn the Department of Home Affairs into a digital department in the 2024 to 2029 term of office, which he said envisioned an “ambitious” new future where no one must visit a Home Affairs office in-person again to access routine services.

He highlighted that ‘Home Affairs @ home’ would contribute to restoring the integrity of South Africa’s national security.

“…using the same biometric technology that already secures smartphones, online banking and other critical platforms, the automated risk engine must be able to identify and prevent attempts at identity fraud. Using the latest machine learning technology, the risk engine will instantly detect fraudulent documents, or documents that have been re-used in multiple applications. Before issuing an outcome, it will also cross-reference all applications for visas against domestic and international criminal and other databases,” he said.

Schreiber highlighted that by integrating biometric information, local and global databases, and travel authorisation with the movement control system at all ports-of-entry under the Border Management Authority, the risk engine would notify immigration officials in real time whenever a traveller had failed to exit the country by the time their authorisation had expired.

This, he said would make it impossible for travellers who overstay to evade detection, while providing biometric information on all foreigners in the country to enable instant verification of their status.

Schreiber pointed out that through the implementation of this vision over the next five years, the department aimed to enable everyone with an Internet connection to access Home Affairs’ services online – and it will transform every library or community centre equipped with an Internet-connection into a virtual Home Affairs office.  

“While we undertake the process of digital transformation, these reforms will also be supplemented by the rapid advancement of existing partnerships with accredited banks and retailers, to expand the footprint of Home Affairs across the length and breadth of the country without incurring the costs and delays of investing in new brick-and-mortar buildings,” he added.

He said after years of budget cuts, Home Affairs now only had 40% of the staff required to provide adequate services under the current model that required every client to physically visit offices for even the most routine transactions.

He pointed out that the existing business model was not financially sustainable nor future-proof, and that it needed to be replaced by a new model that enabled clients to access services wherever they were.

“Digital transformation is also essential for Home Affairs to play our catalytic role in pursuing the apex priority of the GNU, which is to grow the economy to create jobs. To attract millions more tourists as well as the investment and skills our economy desperately needs, antiquated, inefficient and paper-based red tape must go,” said Schreiber.

He explained that in rolling out this ambitious vision for a re-imagined and digitally transformed department over the next five years, the department would be guided by the aim to provide the best possible experience to the end-users of services.

DEPARTMENT’S SERVICES

He explained that clients in need of routine civic services, such as obtaining or replacing an identity document, passport or certificate, must be able to apply online through a secure platform linked to their unique biometrics, in the same way that banks and the South African Revenue Service already verify transactions.

“Instead of endless paperwork and manual processes, travellers who want to visit sunny South Africa will also be required to register a profile on the secure online platform in order to submit an application for Electronic Travel Authorisation. The application must be adjudicated instantly, only requiring human intervention if an anomaly is detected by the machine,” he said.