Home Affairs clears backlog of 247 000 IDs

Cape Town —The Department of Home Affairs announced that it cleared a backlog of identity documents (IDs) that have accumulated since November 2023.

In a statement, Home Affairs said it had changed its IT service providers, which caused a bottleneck in multiple areas in the production value chain.

As a result, it left more than a quarter of a million applications getting “stuck.”

“As part of the Department’s commitment to clearing backlogs and enhancing efficiency, on 21 August 2024, Home Affairs consolidated all of the “stuck” IDs into a single database in order to systematically clear the backlog. On that day, there were 247 500 IDs in the backlog,” Home Affairs spokesperson, Duwayne Esau said.

As of 25 September 2024, the department had zero backlogs as it was completely eradicated. Schreiber said the clearing of the backlog was proof that the longstanding challenges at the department can be resolved when things are done in a systematic and focused manner.

The clearing of the backlog signified the commitment of Home Affairs to turn the Department into a powerful economic leader.

“We still have much more to do. Our apex priority is the wholesale digital transformation of Home Affairs to create a new system where South Africans should be able to submit ID and other applications from the comfort of their own home through a digital platform, followed by the delivery of these documents to their doorstep,” Minister Schreiber said.

The Department is also making progress in reducing the visa backlog and taking steps towards digital transformation.

“To further support communities, the Department of Home Affairs has also extended its office hours every Saturday until 12 October to enable clients to collect their IDs and other documents.

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Compiled by Matthew Petersen