Previously, if you wanted to renew your South African ID, you had precious few options. Number one was to brave the queues and hope for the best at a Home Affairs branch. Second, you could’ve tried one of the banks participating in government’s ‘old pilot project.’
RENEW YOUR SOUTH AFRICAN ID
However, according to the Minister of Home Affairs, Dr. Leon Schreiber, the latter was plagued with many technical issues. Principally, the ‘old model’ relied on the costly duplication of Home Affairs staff and hardware inside bank branches, which often failed terribly.
As such, the latest push to be able to renew your South African ID in 1 000 banks across the country is all about bringing services to the people. Otherwise known as the ‘Home Affairs@home’ strategy. And it hopes to dramatically expand services into rural areas where bank branches may already exist.
NEW BANKS SIGNED-UP
Therefore, Capitec and FNB are the first banks to sign up to the ‘new digital model.’ In turn, this will start the process to expand Smart ID and Passport services nationwide, reports Daily Investor.
Dr. Schreiber explained that several South African banks, including ABSA, African Bank, Capitec, Discovery Bank, and Standard Bank were invited to join this new digital phase of an existing collaboration. Currently, just 30 bank branches in South Africa offer passport and Smart ID renewals.
DIGITAL LIVE CAPTURE
As mentioned, the goal is to eventually expand this project to 1 000 bank branches. However, this is premised on the rollout of a new digital live capture system model, which will accelerate the process. The minister reiterated the call to all other banks to accept their invitation to work together to provide Smart ID and Passport services.
“It is safe to say that this marks the beginning of the end for Home Affairs queues, and the start of a new digital-first era in public service delivery,” concluded Minister Schreiber.
HAVE YOU TRIED TO RENEW YOUR SOUTH AFRICAN ID IN A BANK BEFORE?
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