SA’s ID system gets major upgrade – Faster, smarter, and error-free!

Home Affairs

Cape Town – The Department of Home Affairs has announced a major upgrade to its digital identity verification system, significantly improving efficiency and accuracy for public and private sector services.

The system, which allows government departments and businesses to verify clients’ identities using biometrics such as fingerprints and facial recognition, had been plagued by inefficiencies in recent years.

“Home Affairs is proud to announce a major upgrade to the digital service that enables government departments and the private sector to verify the identities of clients looking to obtain social grants, open bank accounts, and access a myriad other services using biometrics like fingerprints and facial recognition,” Ministerof Home Affair Leon Schreiber said in a statement on social media.

“In recent years, the system has been plagued by inefficiencies, with users reporting a failure rate of up to 50% on these verification “hits” against the National Population Register (NPR). It also routinely took up to 24 hours for the system to even respond, and when responses did arrive, they were often so littered with errors that they required a cumbersome process of manual verification – leaving the beneficiary without access to a grant or bank account.”

The minister said that the department has successfully overhauled the system, with tests confirming that responses are now generated within milliseconds and that the error rate has been reduced to below 1%.

“This is Home Affairs’ digital transformation driving social and financial inclusion for all,” said Schreiber.

The department is now preparing to roll out the upgraded service to all public and private sector clients, promising a more reliable and seamless experience for those seeking identity verification.

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