14 Apr The New Digital ID System
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a new digital ID system as part of his plan to digitise Home Affairs services. He plans to have South African IDs available in phones’ wallet apps and readily accessible beyond their physical form. This way, South Africans will be able to access civic services, such as online passport applications, marriage registrations, and birth registrations quickly and from the comfort of their homes.
The president said digital IDs are critical to the government’s “reform agenda” – that is, digitising government services, such as gov.co.za. The government hopes the digitisation of government and civic services might attract foreign investment.
The president said, “We will invest in digital public infrastructure to give South Africans access to government services anytime, anywhere, through a relaunched gov.za platform. At the heart of this transformation will be the implementation of a digital identity system. These measures will … create one government that is accessible to every person at a touch.”
South Africa isn’t the first government to begin to digitise its government, immigration, and civic services. First-world governments such as the United States of America and the United Kingdom have made government services and digital IDs available.
The Department of Home Affairs will play a crucial role in the digital transformation of South Africa’s government, with Minister Dr Leon Schreiber saying the Department is a “linchpin for the digital transformation of government.”
Home Affairs’ Digital ID Plan
As announced in September 2024, Home Affairs aims to completely digitise South Africa’s bureaucratic services with the online system Home Affairs @ Home. The Department wants to eliminate queues by partnering with banks to take biometrics and deliver IDs and application outcomes. As for the digital IDs, the Minister said that over the next 12 months, the DHA will:
● Ensure access for all to digital services “at a touch” by building the first components of the digital ID, which will eliminate fraud and expand social and bureaucratic inclusion.
● Initiate an Electronic Travel Authorisation system powered by AI to automate the issuance of tourist and short-term visas.
● Implement the TTOS (Trusted Tour Operator Scheme) to attract visitors from India and China, a previously untapped tourist market.
This is part of the DHA and Minister’s five-year plan for the digital transformation of bureaucracy, civic service reform, security, and mitigating fraud and corruption amongst its officials.
How the Digital ID Fits Into the DHA’s Larger Vision
The digital identity document transformation will do away with paper-based identification, which is susceptible to fraud and tampering. The Department has also begun to push for digital visas and visa extension services, which could attract the millions of more tourists needed to quadruple tourism income and thus GDP.
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