Ambitious Home Affairs envisages digital IDs by THIS date

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Digital IDs, wallets and e-passports are the next piece of the puzzle for Home Affairs Minister Dr. Leon Schreiber. Presented to the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs last week, the department is calling it the Revised Strategic Plan (RSP).

At its core, RSP is all about digitising the Home Affairs experience. It will go paperless and replace all transactions with digital IDs to digital wallets (money) and electronic passports. Better still, the department has ambitious plans to roll all this out within the next five years, by 2030.

DIGITAL IDS BY 2030

Former ministers could never have envisioned such a quick turnaround at the department. Image: File

The Minister of Home Affairs has already announced several big wins since he took office just over a year ago. Naturalised citizens, for example, are now able to access smart ID cards for the first time ever.

Likewise, big strides have been made at the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) in stamping out bribery and corruption. Now, Minister Schreiber is moving ahead swiftly with RSP and digital IDs, reports Daily Investor.

HOME AFFAIRS ‘AT HOME’

As such, Minister Schreiber told Parliament the DHA remains committed to becoming a ‘digital-first organisation.’ “Home Affairs @ home, informs all of our projects, initiatives and targets for the next five years (till 2030). Our desired end-state is to deliver a digitally transformed organisation. All civic, immigration and refugee services will be delivered in a decentralised manner. Electronic channels will dramatically expand inclusion and deliver dignity for all,” explained the minister.

Furthermore, the department says it will expand its successful digital IDs pilot project. Central to this is the act of going paperless and introducing fully digital channels. As such, DHA eHome will enable complete end-to-end online transactions, much like SARS does now for tax.

ELECTRONIC TRAVEL AUTHORISATION

e-passports — E-passports and ETA visas will make the department’s work more efficient, too. Image: canva

Along with these digital IDs, the creation of Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) will automate the visa process, too. Dr. Schreiber says this will dramatically increase the efficiency of the visa process in and out of the country. In turn, this will boost tourism and attract critical skills into the economy to create jobs.

Moreover, the ETA system is expected to go live as soon as September 2025. And the DHA confirmed its ambitious timeline for rolling out these digital initiatives runs to 2030. This initiative will be aided by rolling out live capture functionality to more than 1 000bank branches nationwide in the mean time.